I met with a mortgage broker and my realtor today. Both had very good news for me.

The mortgage broker pre-approved me for a loan up to the amount I wanted to spend! This means I can make an offer on a house and be comfortable that they will give me the loan.

My realtor and I then did a search and lined up several houses to look at on Sunday. None of the houses are perfect, but in my price range, I am expecting to make some compromises.

If I waited and searched, I could probably find exactly what I want. But my landlord is moving back to the cities in early August, so I would like to be out of here before he gets here. It would just be a lot cleaner.

My preferred criteria:

-Convenient to downtown Minneapolis, given how frequently I'm going dancing there
-At least 2 bedrooms, 3 preferred
-Decent neighborhood
-Room to build sweat equity

Strong preferences:

-Dining room (I like to entertain)
-Two bathrooms
-Walk out basement
-Fireplace
-2+ car garage

On the garage -- the house either needs a 2-car garage or it needs enough space on the lot for me to add one.

For the bathrooms -- either the house needs 2 bathrooms or there needs to be a space to add another one.

For the bedrooms -- at least 3 or a space to add more.

I would really prefer something with a basically unfinished basement. I can do a nice job finishing the basement, which should add to the value of the house. If I add a full bath and two bedrooms, that should work wonders.

I'll keep y'all posted on how the search goes.