Newbie, looking at 28-30' rigs

OK, so now you have looked and are beginning to focus on a couple of models. Take a deep breath, and try to be objective about your expensive purchase. What are your must haves? For one, you need to be able to *safely* carry the weight of your family and pets. And, your kids will grow and necessarily add more weight to the rig. Remember, when buying any RV, it's not the room you will have, but the weight you can safely carry. So, make a reasonable estimate of the weight of your family and pets. Then, try to determine on how much stuff you might need to take on your most typical trips. Any rig you consider needs to be able to carry this weight. Class C rigs of 30 feet or more, generally don't leave a whole lot of weight available for people and their stuff (OCCC). If the rig has slide-outs, it will further reduce the OCCC as noted by others.
Continue with your list of must haves. Then, consider if the rigs you have checked out meet your needs. Finally, try to avoid eye-candy, special graphics, decals and paint. Good luck.