This is not 100% confirmed yet, but I'm so excited I had to tell someone!
I've been looking to purchase my first home for about a year now, but have gotten really serious in '09 because of the tax incentives offered by Obama.
The prices in Utah, where I live, are a bit high for the kind of house I'd feel good settling down in for 3-5 years, so I started looking elsewhere including the town where I grew up Fernley, Nevada.
Home prices in Fernley are at an all-time low, plus it's near some of my family, and near my wife's family on the border of Nevada and California (but not TOO close :-P ).
So, I got a tip about an auction being held in Reno where some foreclosed properties in Fernley would be up for bid. I hurried and got a loan pre-qualification document and made the 8 hour drive out to Reno on Tuesday to bid. (this is sounding really boring right now)
Anyway, I found a house that is really nice (~2100 sq. ft) in a nice neighborhood, 3 beds, 2 baths. At the auction, my lot came up for bid and I ended up WINNING! I got it for 115K (a pretty screaming deal).
The seller still has to accept my bid, so the deal is not completely done yet and I still have to get officially financed, but things are looking really great. I made the 8 hour drive back to Utah yesterday and the whole thing seems like a dream at the moment.
If everything goes well I should close on the house at the end of May. Then I'll be 8 hours closer to comic con in July!
Here's a pic:
just2pale
dude I think I see the Wicked Witch of the West under there! Tell her I said hi!