We met with the realtor and the mortgage person in his office for a combined two hours this morning. I feel much better about the idea of buying a house now. He's very easy to talk to and was able to explain everything clearly. In fact, I think I'll refer to him on a first-name basis in here. His name is Brian. Jersey seems to have a number of special real estate quirks, so it was good to have someone point those out. He put together a long set of listings for us to whittle down to those we want him to take us to. Brian also told us that the market around here is steadily appreciating, despite the national "bubble burst," so we could very well make a decent amount of money instead of just breaking even with renting.

My ideal time to move would be mid-May, after spring semester is over but before I head to Maine. Of course I don't have any definite plans about when and how long I'll be in Maine, but May sounds good. June might also work if I came back down for the move in between Maine trips. In any event, based on what was discussed with Brian, it wouldn't be ridiculous to make an offer anytime soon. And now that we're more informed, it's not as big and scary to make an offer either. Yay for Brian.