Housing update...the saga continues

I have learned more about houses this week than I ever thought possible. I feel like I'm becoming a real estate broker. I've been examining everything from furnace quality and quantity, flooring, basement conditions, kitchen cabinets, and room dimensions, to boundary lines, yard maintenance, town restrictions, road conditions, rodent population, roof ages, and neighborhoods. Every little minutiae that I had never thought about before. My head is swimming with mortgage rates, insurance policies, and legal jargon. We had a total of 10 houses for sale that we are looking at and a couple of rental properties. Luckily, some have been easier than others to cross off our list. We have our last place to look at tomorrow, as well as one rental. Then we need to decide the next step. I think right now I'm leaning toward buying. Mark feels it would be better to rent, and I agree that financially, we would save money that way, but the thought of buying a house and getting settled really appeals to me. Out of the houses we've looked at so far, there is one that really stands out as being quite a nice little spot. And I think it would retain its value for resale when it comes time for us to move on. I was talking to some family members about it, and all the things I was listing were good qualities, and things that will increase it's value. Like an insulated garage! We couldn't seem to find a downside to this cute little place. I get very excited about it and yes, there is some risk of loosing money 3 or 4 years down the road if we sell it, but I really think this could be a good investment. Anyway, tomorrow will be the last day we learn about our options so then we'll be able to really sit down and discuss. Knowing the two of us, we may come to a decision by the end of next year! :)
As for the job front, I won't know anything until after May 15th, so I'll just have to wait and see. That's another thing to be stressed about. I think it's time for me to go de-stress....time for some Chinese take-out with my folks, talking about anything but houses!