Congrats. Owning beats the tar out of renting any day. Of course, if something goes haywire--and something will at some point--you have to pony up the dough. The real upside is that you can do what you want to do with it, the check you write every month isn't lining someone else's pocket or paying their mortgage, and the feeling you get in having a little chunk of land and a house to call your own is rewarding in a way that's hard to explain.

My wife and I may be moving this summer and renting out our house and possibly buying another. It's kinda hard to think about someone else living here, especially since they will have no idea how much work we put into this place. It's funny how a house can become almost alive and how attached you can get to it!