Reality Check

So I may have mentioned before that my favie and I are in the market for a house. As first time home buyers, we know next to nothing about this process. It's been quite a learning experience so far...to say the least. With preapprovals from two different mortgage lenders and one day of official house hunting with our real estate agent behind us, here's what we've figured out so far:

• Shopping around for different mortgage deals is a good idea. It helps if you happen to know someone in the business and/or have a good recommendation of a lender to go to. We've gotten two different lenders to preapprove us so far, and we know of two other ones that we'll probably also check out.
• Never underestimate the amount of money you will have to have as a down payment and for closing costs. Of course, all we have are estimates right now, so maybe we, (actually I), shouldn't get my panties in too big of a wad just yet. I'm just really hoping that we can convince the seller to pay for closing costs, because the number they gave us on the estimate was like an ice cold slap in the face.
• The intown housing market in Atlanta is extremely hit or miss. The houses we have found so far that are in our price range are either old and need at least some work, or new and in the ghetto.
• Question: Why the hell would you build a nice, new beautiful house in the ghetto or put a bunch of money into a beautiful renovation that is in a neighborhood where all the other houses have cars parked in the grass and there are drug deals going on across the street? Answer: To tease innocent people like me into getting excited about a really nice house that is in my price range, only to have my hopes come crashing down when we pull up in the driveway and the garage is tagged with "Fuk da Fam." Yeah, that wasn't in the pictures.
• After our experience house hunting on Monday, we've basically realized that if we really want to live ITP, and not in the ghetto, we're just going to have to sacrifice some of the amenities that a suburban house will have (i.e. fireplace, 2 car garage, nice master suite with a big bathroom and a double sink vanity, etc)
• The real estate agent we have is smart, and she knows what she's talking about, even if I don't want to listen. She has already been right about a lot of things. (One of them being that I will feel extremely disappointed after our first day of house shopping and probably cry.)

And I do admit that I pretty much fought back tears with every ounce of stubborness I could muster as we were driving home, because I didn't want her to be right. But once in the safety of our apartment, I just let it all out. Right now, I don't have a whole lot of hope that we will find our perfect dream house for our first home, but I think I kind of already knew that. I was just trying to ignore that nagging little feeling in the back of my mind. But I do feel encouraged that this process will teach me a lot about what my priorities are and what I can and can't live without. Wish us luck as the saga continues...