Thinking of buying a house

I've started looking into buying a house. 2 years ago I was fairly certain I was not going to buy a house in 5-10 years but things change. The market was so inflated then that I would've probably lost at least 10% of my investment if I bought then. Since the market is so beat down now I'm looking into it more. I really want a dog and a place I can call my own.

Something about being completely independent makes me smile. Right now, I'm paying some guy money for his mortgage. Why? The me from 2 years ago would say renting gives you an easier out if you decide to move away or travel for an extended period. Well I don't think I'm ever going to be moving away and having my own place will help me from doing the one activity I despise, moving.

I won't be buying until at least 2009 so hopefully real estate prices continue to fall until then. Hoping to have 100% of the cost of the house saved up by then(looking at homes in the 150-200k range). I'm not going to pay it all off but will put a huge down payment down. I figure it's going to be a complete bitch to get a decent mortgage rate with the current state of the economy and the fact that my income comes from poker. Luckily, my credit rate is flawless.

With all that said, I need to get my grinding shoes fitted. My goal for next month is 25k profit. Really confident that I can make more but don't want to set the goal so high that I end up quitting halfway through. Alright, I'm off to GRIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!