I started to post this on the other newbie thread, but it got too long.
I'm also pretty new here. MH and I have been married for about a year, but we've been with my parents for that year because of their health problems. We have a 14 yo daughter and a 12 year old son, and we are ready to try again. We are all living on top of each other, and it's not working anymore, so we are ready to strike out on our own. I do have tremendous guilt for leaving my parents in the situation they are in with their health and their finances, but we are not young enough to wait for things to improve any longer. Besides, we want try to find something near my parents so that we can still help out when it's needed.
So, aside from that part, it's a very exciting time in our life! We've had the prequalification for a while, and finally got the preapproval earlier this week. I was surprised to find that the preapproval was for MUCH less than the prequalification, so we have changed our search area. Found a few things we like that hopefully, we will be able to see this weekend. There's one in particular that we like enough to hopefully bid on.
This is better than my post from earlier this week in which I was convinced I would never find ANYTHING that wasn't under contract.
Re: Also a newbie (sort of)
It's fairly typical for the preapproval to come in lower than the prequalification, so its good that you got the preapproval.
I guess my only advice that since you are in the begining stages of looking try not to rule out homes before going to look at them just based on the photos. Some realtors are horrible at taking photos (which has been proven on this board time and time again) and you might miss out on a really great house because of some really crappy photos.
Good luck in your search. I hope you guys find a great home!