So, I just called and rescheduled my appointment with woman who has rescheduled me four times. She gave me shit. Twice. I'm having second thoughts about working with her.

WHat lovely news, Stephanie, thanks for sharing it with us!

Sweet ride, Juliana. Keep the rubber side down.

I don't really know what I can afford.

I suggest sitting down with a financial advisor. Then you could work out what is comfortable for you and what you can afford.

For all your bridge falling nightmares, I give you our crumbling infrastructure.

“The American Society of Civil Engineers issues annual rankings of the state of the nation’s infrastructure and most of the grades are C and D,” said Michael O’Rourke, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

I suggest sitting down with a financial advisor. Then you could work out what is comfortable for you and what you can afford.

Seriously! There's no point in buying just to own a place if you end up losing money on it. And it just might not be the right time in the market you're in.

I had to turn in a rough draft of my last paper for school on Monday. I got an email from the prof today saying that it looked good and required no changes and she awarded full points for it.

This means I am done with my classes for the summer!! I have to turn in some forms on Tuesday, but I have no work left in them. Yay!!! I think these were the easiest 6 hours of grad level classes I've ever taken. Lots of work, but none of it terribly difficult.

I suggest sitting down with a financial advisor. Then you could work out what is comfortable for you and what you can afford.

Okay. How would one go about doing such a thing? I know I'm supposed to find someone without a vested interest in my actually buying (a bank wants my money whether or not I can afford it, right?).

a bank wants my money whether or not I can afford it, right?)

Not in today's market. With so many foreclosures, they want you to have a mortgage you won't default on. Ask friends/coworkers if they have a financial advisor they like. That would be a good start.

(I thought that they had all moved away?).

My parents moved but my brother and SIL, grandparents, and aunt/uncle still all live there. Plus, assorted family friends, church members, and so on. Like you, I have spent many hours running and biking on those paths - Minnesota rocks the parks and paths department. It's just weird when bad stuff happens close to home.

P-C, Joe and I have bought/sold two houses in the last five years. Each did make us money, although one was easy and one was very stressful. I do think that if you buy something new, you are much more likely to just have monthly mortgage costs, which makes the whole things less scary, IMO.

P-C, my brother is a FANTASTIC, very knowledgeable mortgage broker. I would be happy to send you his contact info. He'll talk everything through with you...and I'll tell him he better be good to you, or I'll kick his ass.