The pursuit is half the fun?

I have been searching for a house for the past three months. I have seriously seen sixty-seven homes as of this evening (no, really, seriously, ask Joanne, my realtor). It is easily the most frustrating, exhausting, and stressful experience I have had in my young adult life. Yes, even more stressful than being unemployed... at least then you are not potentially going hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt.

Now, my situation is not dire by any means. Well, I guess that depends on your definition of dire. I am living - wait for it - in my parents' basement. Because really, when I was considering moving this time last year, I thought, 'how can I be the biggest possible cliche AND lose my social life and relative freedom?' 

Now, living rent-free is not all that bad, obviously. My mom buys groceries and sometimes even cooks for me. I definitely will not have my own 60" tv when I get my own place (let's face it, I'll be lucky if I'm able to afford cable). But for any self-respecting, wanna-be independent 24 year old single gal, the basement is just not going to cut it. I won't even go into what dating has been like the past year since I have moved in here. 

And, if you have been paying attention at all to the news, it makes so much sense to buy as opposed to renting right now. Not only do you get some great tax credits, but you are paying about the same for your mortgage as you would for rent and you are building EQUITY! Amazing! So if you have some pennies saved up that you can put towards a down payment, BUY BUY BUY!

So I *think* I am putting in an offer in the home pictured tomorrow. It is small (around 1500 square feet), three beds and (gasp) one bath. BUT the price is right, and there is room to add on. After all my looking, this house has stood out among the rest for it's affordability, character, and POTENTIAL. It is definitely not perfect, but there is so much I can see that can be done! Hopefully, this will be my canvas upon which I can build my own space and style. Fingers crossed!