House hunting

We've begun the agonizing process of house hunting.  We returned to the U.S. nearly a year ago (already?!).  Originally we were going to buy right away but lo and behold the forces were against us and we had to resort to renting (blergh).  Glen earned all the money and I had the excellent credit but those two things combined were not enough to convince a lender to give us some money.  So we spent this year establishing Glen's U.S. credit and I got a job (until bambino came, of course).  Apparently having bad credit is better than no credit so here we are 10 months down the line and through some financial savviness, Glen has achieved a good credit rating.  So all the paperwork is turned over to the powers that be and our search has begun.  We have narrowed down the location we are searching in based on Glen's commute to work in Longmont and our proximity to Boulder and Denver, not to mention local grocery stores, the pediatrician, etc.  We have lived in Erie for almost a year and we have decided it is Dullsville for us.  We love our neighbors, we love the paths to take family walks on, we love the safety of our neighborhood, we love that Chris and Jenessa are 5 minutes away.  But when it is time to do anything at night like pop over to a yummy restaurant or meet up with other friends it is a commute.  And who wants to commute to dinner with an infant?  And the bigger problem is our ginormous rent payment.  I seriously want to vomit every time I make that payment.  I feel like it is just throwing money away and I can't help but think of how much of that we could put into savings.  When we moved back we had to get into the first thing we could and regretfully that came at a high price, literally.  Our lease is up at the end of the year but we have some very special visitors coming in from England.  So we either move now, like right now or wait until January.  Luckily we can go month to month after December so we shall see.  It's scary buying another house.  I admit I am a little gun shy after the last experience.  It feels like such a burden to me sometimes when I think of being responsible for the upkeep of a property.  I have to find a way to view this positively and make it a home for us, our tiny little family.  Wish us luck!