Itching to buy a home

As I have posted before, I have rented my house out and as a result I am renting a room from a buddy of mine. This was done in anticipation that I would be going on a couple temporary assignments for work, perhaps till Dec 2006. However, long story short, I am still in the same area. I also recently found out I will be remaining in the area for my next assignment as well.

Regardless, I am really itching to buy my next home. I really miss all the projects (I know it sounds crazy). I really enjoyed enhancing and improving my first house and it turned out to be a good long-term investment for me.

So if I decide that I am ready to purchase my next house, what I am looking for? Well I have the same area that my 1st house is located in mind because 1) I am familiar with area, 2) I would like to continue living in the area, and 3) I had good success improving, then renting my 1st house out for a positive cash flow. However, if I find a good opportunity somewhere else, I would probably take it. To me the most important thing is finding the right property for the right price.

I am concerned about the housing bubble. I don't think housing prices in the are have skyrocketed like they have in other areas which I think is a positive, however prices have still gone up, and I want to make sure I am getting the best value for my dollar - it would be hard for me to spend $25,000-$40,000 more for basically the exact same house I bought 3 yrs ago.

As a result I am starting to focus my attention on shoring up my credit score, raising cash for a down payment, and cleaning up my financial profile incase I need to start hunting for a mortgage.