Went out with my agent again today

We looked at two places on the same street. Both were townhomes, 2 br/ 1 1/2 ba, both bedrooms upstairs.

The 1st place (985 sf) had renters in it that are moving out in the next few weeks. They were an extremely nice and gracious family. The hubby showed us around the property. Unfortunately there were a few things I didn't like about the unit. The first is that there were no laundry hookups. Secondly the garage is not attached. Also, the outside area was just "ok".

The 2nd place (1020 sf) was empty so we showed ourselves around. The price on the property is astounding and it has an back enclosed patio area where I can maybe add some fake grass and a little front yard area, BUT (again those buts) it also doesn't have an attached garage plus it's not move in ready. To get it move in ready (heavy heavy duty cleaning, new carpeting for stairs and bedrooms, paint) will likely cost me $3k-$4k. Plus I will need to buy a washer and dryer. In the next 6-12 months I'd need to revamp the upstairs bathroom (another maybe $1500) plus update the flooring in the living room to laminate flooring (the tile is ugly but in excellent condition). Also, this place does not have central air! WTH!!!! Le sigh.......

So, in the 2nd place I see a lot of potential, and since the price is just SICK i'm considering it. I'll be talking with the agent about it again tomorrow because she needs to confirm if its FHA approved. I need to tell her that going forward I only want to see places that she has already confirmed are on the list so we don't waste anymore time.

In regards to the 2nd property the agent told me I really should see this as a started place, somewhere I can live for maybe 5 years or so, build equity then move on to my "real" house. I guess she's right but i'm still chewing on that.