Thank you for such a detailed post it was very insightful. A few points:
We were going through this last summer and even put an offer on a house. The buyer decided they didn't want to accept our offer and refused. We decided to just house sit for her mother while she went back to take care of her parents. Her mother is coming back now due to visa issues and is saying we should start looking again. When we were going the home buying process we had two Realtors they were a partner group. We really didn't care for them much. They were lazy and not helpful in our process. We will have to do more research this time.
A lot of people have been saying how sites third party sites are really outdated. I have noticed this as well now. The houses on mls are much more up to date and have a lot more options.
I do not think we are in the same stage where this is going to be a forever home for us. We both would like to move to a different city eventually. However if look back from my time five years from now I just want to make sure we enjoyed those five years. I do not plan on living here for ten years although I would never say it could not happen. But we are looking for a smaller place than I would like to be in ten years.
I am definitely willing to put in a lot of work into my home. Like I said we are currently house sitting her mothers house. Since we have been here we have put in laminate floors, pressure washed the house, landscape the yard, painted the house, installed a built in closets, and a bunch of other things. I am fairly handy person and know my way around my tool wall. :)
The money is currently in my gf possesion in an investment. We are financially aware of all the processes that we will have to go through for this whole ordeal.
Trust me I am very aware of how serious this is. We are currently just looking and planning for a financial decision in June due the money being taxed when removed. We are also dealing with a family where feng shui is very important. The house must be perfect before me make a decision. This is no easy task trust me I know! We are definitely trying to not be house poor especially at our age.