I've been taking a crash course in home buying these last few days. I think I have a handle on the different types of mortgages and due to a real effort to pay off our long term debts and clean up our my credit, I think we're in a good position to qualify for a really good mortgage. Today we're off to open houses. We stopped by one yesterday (cute house, rotten neighborhood) and today we plan to hit 5. We're trying to get a feel for the different cities we're considering (which are pretty widespread). We then plan to narrow down the area and do real research on neighborhoods. And we still need to meet with my uncle, a real estate agent who has been collecting a lot of information for us. There's so much to learn! I'm amazed anyone is able to buy a house these days. It seems so daunting, but the more I learn the better I feel about the process.