Love is a strange phenomenon. I didn't know what I was looking for until I found him 8 years ago. There are plenty of fake men too, I've had the displeasure of meeting more than a few.
The best answer I can give is that I don't 'expect' more than the basics of respect, honesty, integrity and self-awareness. I also need to have a strong friendship with someone.
However, for me to experience love the feeling, I need to be drawn to the person. I don't need to know why, it just needs to be there. I find that love the feeling is a mysterious thing, it comes from somewhere very old (although my South Node is conjunct my Venus, so that may explain that).
Where does it come from? I don't know. Possibly the astrology, or former lives. But I definitely need a powerful spiritual connection unpinned by a strong friendship. Ethereal but earthy, I guess.
My current relationship is about 4 years old (with 4 years of friendship prior). I don't really have the words for it, even now. It's still otherworldly, so I am still utterly hooked. I feel like in every previous life and throughout this one I was looking for him. I didn't know what he looked like, I knew him by how he made me feel when he looked at me. We were friends for 4 years (completely platonic) before the universe cleared a path for us to be together. I would have stayed his friend if that was all that was ever possible, I just didn't want to be without him in my life. I never knew for all that time, but it turned out he felt the same. And he remembered me too.
Don't invest in anything less that mutually earth-shattering. Be prepared to wait, but live while waiting. Be spiritually open and self-aware. I was 36 years old before it happened, and my partner was 53.