We decided we were getting pretty fed up with our high rent and ridiculous complex management, and started considering a house. We both make a sufficient amount of money to get a decent loan but not so much we can't qualify for FHA and UHA loans. There was quite a bit of a financial fiasco. However we ended up finding a lender who could provide us with a loan despite the previous issues. We started looking at homes with our realtor. However Dan was in the Philippines and I found it hard to consider a home without him around. I did find some homes that looked fantastic inside but the neighborhoods were a bit concerning. Then Dan came home and we had a week to continue the home shopping before he had to leave again. We went and looked at six houses in our first day (well first day together, I did 8 the previous week on my own) and found ourselves rather discouraged after the first few. The homes were in horrible condition and would require a ton of work just to get to a decent level. We eventually found two homes that day that were great. One was a twin home and the other was a 4 bedroom split entry. We grappled between the two since they each had something great the other didn't have. Ultimately we decided to go with the twin home. It was about 10k cheaper which would help our payments as well. We ended up going under contract for the twin home. The seller is paying for the inspection, home warranty, closing costs, and $500 worth of repairs. Essentially we're going into a home having spent...nothing. hehe The home is 3 bedroom 1.5 bathrooms, with a garage, 0.12 acres, and it is in fantastic shape. We plan to change the downstairs room into a ferret room with vinyl flooring. Then we'll have the master bedroom re-carpeted and re-painted. My next desire would be to get the kitchen changed. It seems a bit much with all the white. Our current kitchen style is black and red. Changing a full white kitchen with white appliances to match our style will be interesting. I plan on having at least one, if not both of the sheds in the backyard removed. The back porch is two floors. The two is a bit smaller, allowing space for a barbecue and a few pots. Then the downstairs porch is quite large with a covering. This is where you'd put like a patio set and a bigger barbecue. At this point we've been approved by the underwriters for the loan, and the inspection has been done. The appraisal will be on Tuesday and we'll just keep heading on forward. It is super crazy!! We're excited, and I'm nervous. Our mortgage payments will be around $735 a month, versus our 1k rent we pay now, which is incredible. The home is in West Jordan, pretty close to Jordan Landing (yay a shopping center). Here are some pics of the home. Sorry we don't have more.
Backyard
Bottom Porch
Upstairs Bathroom

Master Bedroom (yeah that color's changing asap)
Kitchen
Upstairs Living Room
Front of House

Hopefully everything continues to go forward and we will be able to move out!