getting back on the horse so to speak, need some advice

[veryrusty]

reading the other thread about how long to wait got me thinking, i havent dated in about 10 years, been single for just over a year and now feel ready to get back out there but i am having a bit of an issue, i have joined a few dating sites and have even met a few blokes but i have never taken it any further and this is my problem...

when i've dated in the past i was always still staying with my parents (or back home after a relationship ended)and the bloke with his, now obviously i have my own place and as im a good bit older now, nearly 40, all the blokes i meet/chat to have their own place and to be honest i dont have any experience of dating like this.

i dont know if its that im "afraid" to go back to someones house or have someone in mine, whats the ettiquette nowadays?

how soon after you meet would they come over etc and how easy is it to leave their house or get them to leave yours without them expecting you to sleep together

sorry to sound like a daft teenager but i feel like one!

also i met one bloke who i got on really well with, totally on the same wavelength and really funny etc who i liked loads but i didnt really fancy him, one of my friends said its more important to get on with someone then the fancying bit develops later but another friend said if you dont fancy them straight off theres no point seeing them again, but i have been thinking about him quite a bit lately and not sure if i see him again and still dont fancy him would it be sending the wrong signals?

help!!!

Ok, I just wrote a really rude joke there and had to cross it out cos I don't know you. What a shame It made I larff.

To the point! I would be very careful about going to a man's house in all honesty, especially if there is alcohol involved and you don't know him very well. This is how I got raped at the grand old age of 40, and he was a friend of a friend, so you just never know.

If that hasn't put you off (and I hope it hasn't because I've got a sweetheart of a bf now) date a man you don't know well several times before going back anywhere.

My first couple of dates were out, and then the last two have been at mine with neighbours aware etc. This is more due to my ds and needing to be here. However, he has been a friend of one of my best friends for 16 years so I did know quite a bit about him beforehand.

Would second littlewomen, she has just given me some great advise on my other thread. Good luck....bloody scary though!