The first step

For about the past two years I've been going to http://www.har.com/ and checking out homes that are for sale here in the Katy area. There have been lots of cute houses come and go on the site, but I never got up the nerve to call the realtor so that I could take a look at them.

Well, that changed last week. I made an appointment for this past Saturday to look at a house that's just around the corner from where I am now.

It's a cute house, but has 1 MAJOR problem and a few itty bitty ones that could be addressed after move in, if I were to buy it.

The major problem is that the A/C system doesn't work and would need to be completely gutted with a new unit and duct work throughout! Yeah, it'll cost a pretty penny to get that done.

That's ok by me, but in talking with the realtor, it sounds as though the mortgage company that's trying to get rid of it (pre-forclosure) isn't willing to budge much on price and doesn't even want to hear from a buyer if they have seller considerations. I'm not really sure why, since the house has been empty for a year now. I'm ok with not having any seller considerations, if they'll accept an offer that's considerably lower than what they're asking.

But, before I get ahead of myself, I need to sit down and figure up the cost of what needs to be done. Can I really afford to be a home owner?

Anyway, it's only the first house I've looked at, but it's a first step!!