decisions, decisions

Once again, I'm considering purchasing a house. I love my current place. Its out in the country next to the river. There are hawks and owls and kingfishers that hunt in my backyard. Its peaceful and the stars are beautiful. The rent is also fairly high (especially for a single girl). The wonderful 18 foot ceilings and wall of windows make heating the place expensive and my landlords have made it fairly clear they don't appreciate me asking for repairs on the house. I've spent some wonderful mornings drinking coffee on the porch in my pajamas watching the birds and listening to the quiet.

Right now there are two real estate possibilities. One is a little 1940's bungalow in town. It needs a new roof and probably could use double-paned windows but has a fabulous interior and is really convenient to work. The other place is a little farther outside town from where I'm at now. Its passive solar, has a great view of the valley but is a bit small and has a smallish lot. Both of them are in the right price range for me and with a few improvements will most likely have a good resale value.

It really gets into my committment issues, which is a bit ridiculous. One of the reasons I'm in Las Vegas is so that I can get the National Health Service Corps loan repayment for rural health care providers. That's a committment of at least 3-4 years. Basically, I'm an indentured servant. If I walk away before the contract is up I'll have to pay something like 150% interest on the monies paid by the government. Buying a house should be a financial decision, not emotional. But I don't have a tattoo for the same reason... What if I hate it, what if I change my mind, what if the floor sags?

A friend from work is looking at houses right now. I'm going to call his real estate agent and see what comes up.