Well, we did it!

Today we put 3% down and turned in our escrow paperwork to buy the condo. We're really excited, because in addition to a nice, new place to live, it's likely to be a money-maker. New construction appreciates about 50% faster than existing housing in the first five to 10 years, and since we're only planning to stay about five years, then it should work perfectly. Nothing's guaranteed, of course; nothing ever is. But it's a pretty good bet. Now we wait for the lender to contact us to start loan processing. After that, we just sit and wait for the construction to complete (maybe September?). We'll probably close escrow and move in November/December. Sooner would be nice, but the delay gives us that much more time to save money!