Awww, thanks, lol! It's been really difficult to find any properties that fit our needs, even within an hour of our current location, unfortunately, we've been seriously looking since May, and have toured at least 8 homes at this point, but we haven't even submitted a single offer. It's frustrating, but I know that we will find what what we need; we just need patience.
We realized early on that we have been priced out of our county, with homes at our budget easily going for 15-20% over list price. It's tricky, though, because in some areas property tax can be at high as 1.6%! We need closer to 1.3 to stay in line with what we'd like payment wise.
i think we'll try a soft pull within the next month to see if we can go conventional. I know it will be more expensive, but it might give us a fighting chance.
Starting Score: 502