Thanks very much! Good to see the sympathy is rolling in!
Not sure yet when we can visit as school holidays dictates most things, I'd go tonight if I could and put up with the "hardship".
Really can't wait to start putting the jigsaw pieces together.
It would be lovely to meet for a beer and chat with people, as we are always open to tips/advice etc and there are always things that arise in the course of visiting estate agents etc... then there is the other side of the coin where we might be able to give advice/tips etc, which we would also be very happy to do.
At least, the postings etc on this forum means that we don't feel alone even during our search and that others are in the same boat or been in the same boat.
As with property everywhere there are lots of "Do's", "Don'ts", tips, advice etc that can be shared and if you were buying n Ireland you'd need to research things too and ask questions....
It really is great to get so much advice and read different points-of-view etc and I have cut down my "fields" of search thanks to the forum.
Thanks everyone!
Dave.