Ugh, the house buying process both sucks and blows.
We visited three houses yesterday. The first one was barely within our price range, the second well within our price range, and the third also within our comfort zone, about halfway between the first two houses. The first house, while it had great potential, and I liked the location, my wife thinks it's too far out into "the sticks" (it's in Eagan, just north of Diffley Rd, basically one interstate exit north of LwB). The second house was the smallest of them, in great condition, and the owners were creative in making the most of the home's available space. The third house was amazing, and seemed too good to be true; the amazing features of the house, the square footage, and so on and so forth, but located very near Robert St. in West St. Paul. The house next door looked a little sketchy, but the house was so impressive that we were just overwhelmed with the opportunity. It was the clear favorite until we got home and did a search on crime report sites. My wife was still in favor of it until a few minutes ago, when she called the local PD to see if they could give any more info. Their reply to her was pretty much to stay clear of the house, and find another home in the city - the house next door has been that much of a nuisance for the police. Too good to be true was sadly too right. Ugh.