Bring in the new...

So, we're in the process of getting pre-approved for a home loan. (Update on 1/5: We're pre-approved!)

Crazy, right???

The idea to buy a house is nothing new. But opportunity presented itself when my friend Megan mentioned that her dad did a pre-approval for her then boyfriend, just to see what he would qualify for. It got us thinking, and we finally contacted him.

And now we've been religiously checking realtor.com for potential places. We have an idea of budget, we have an idea of location, and we have a guy from the dog park who is a realtor and just got another friend from the dog park a great place. (Not to mention about three other connections in case he can't find anything for us.)

So now it feels real, and that kind of trips me out.

I'm actually excited to move, which tells me that I'm ready for this. I love our little apartment, and normally am super resistant to change. But as much as I love where we live and our first place together, we're rapidly outgrowing it.

Plus, the canyon is a tough place to live sometimes. It's far out of the way. It wears on our cars. (Just last year alone I got a flat tire, needed four new tires, and had $700 of "rodent" damage done while parked in our drive way.) We don't get the gas mileage we should be getting. There are a ton of bugs and rodents. We have to take Emma to the dog park every day (so she doesn't destroy our shit) and that's a 40 minute round trip affair. And while we love living there and aren't exactly rushing to move, it's getting to be time.

And there are a few amenities that we've been doing without that I'm looking forward to having again once we move.

On my wish list for a house? A dishwasher. A garbage disposal. A bath tub. A washer and dryer and a pluming system that can support more than two loads of laundry a day. A garage where I can store things, and where Sean can build a little "man cave." An office/guest room so that we don't have to be concerned about leaving out electronics for Emma to eat. And maybe even a fire place, and a place to put a treadmill so I can drop the gym membership I've been clinging to even though I never go.

So here's hoping that everything goes as smoothly for us as first time buyers as it can go. I know from my friends who have bought homes that the process can be super complicated, frustrating, and drawn out. We've already found a place that we really liked only to call the realtor and have our hopes dashed by a pending litigation in the complex... so I get the feeling it's going to be an interesting road!

Any advice for us?