The realty reality
OK.
So my girlfriend and I have decided that in a years time we would like to be moving into a house. In what will be the first of a (hopefully) series, I will divulge any tips / tricks and steps I learn along the way. 
What we want:
First off, the house needs to be structurally sound, and up to code as we don’t want to be doing any Major repairs once we move in. Terrell sez that when he was looking for a new Rook-pad that he only wanted to have to fix 2 things. For example new shingles and the front walk.
Secondly we aren’t terribly concerned with any minor cosmetic changes. Weird carpet, bad paint schemes etc. are NBD.
After that we have made a mental list of some of the features we would like to have in a house:
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Garage
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Finished Basement
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3 bedrooms
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Approximately 1000 sq ft.
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Bedroom large enough for a KING size bed (booyeah)
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A decently roomy kitchen.
This may be a tall order, but we have a year to check out some of the houses in the city to see what is available in what areas for our max price of $150 large.
Last weekend we checked out a few open houses in different areas of the city, which I think is a crucial idea. It really helped us go from speculating what we like and don’t. No flooring BAD, Hand stained, heated concrete flooring GOOD. It also gave us a good idea of what areas we would actually like to live in. Cars on ‘lawns’, mounds of glass on the street, and barbed wire fences are a bit too gangsta for me. On the other hand, I think gated communities are even worse (because they are for douchebags).
How are we going to afford this?
As I wrote earlier, I am now diverting 30% of my income into saving up for a down payment. Which basically means living cheap for a year. We have cut our dining out to a minimum, once a week max, and I no longer go out for lunch. I have become very conscious of my spending, and have created a budget to make sure that I am able to pay for everything we need, while minimizing miscellaneous expenses. I have found that without really sacrificing my current quality of life, and just cutting out useless garbage I have a nice chunk of change left over. I also plan on putting any wage increases, or bonuses into savings. In an ideal world I would like to have 15% down, but think 10% is more realistic.
Thats about all I have in me tonight. Stay tuned for the further realty adventures.
Any other suggestions, tips, things to read throw it in the comments.