Home Sweet Home: Is This Just a Dream?!

It has been about four months since we have been pre-approved for a home. With the housing market the way it is, one would think we would have been able to find a house we like, place an offer, have the offer accepted, and be moving into that house by now. BUT NOOOOOOOO!!!! We are on our fifth offer and it appears we will most likely be getting rejected for the fifth time!!!! It's ridiculous!!!! Why is this happening? Well, granted, there are many homes out there for sale right now. But many have a short sale status which is not the type of home to go for if you want one in the next decade. Other homes are bank repos/forclosed. With the bank repos, you have to either be a handy person or be willing to move far, far away. The homes we have put bids on have been gems and quite a good deal given the area they are in and their potential. We're not settling for just any home in any neighborhood. What we are finding out is that we are choosing to put offers on some of the best homes in our price range. What this means is that we will most likely be coming up against other potential buyers and investors who see the same benefits of the properties as we do. Therefore, it becomes a situation in which the buyer with the best offer gets the property. My husband thought we would be getting a home within a month of being pre-approved. I didn't think it would be that quick but I sure didn't anticipate this process of looking, seeing one we like, placing an offer, and getting rejected each time either. It's definitely frustrating!!!!! It just seems like those situations that should be coming fairly easy for us end up being drawn out and complicated. Is this what the real world is like all the time?! Will we ever get a home by the end of the summer? Home Sweet Home seems like just a dream!!!!