I would start by talking to a good mortgage rep. You may want to talk to your curent mortgage lender, but I would also talk to one or two others to get a second opinion (several mortgage companies checking your credit within a month count as one hit on your credit rating since they recognize that you will only be buying one home - also Mortgage lenders are very competitive and they will typically meet or beat each others best deals. Stay away from the ones that sound like they are "too good to be true - because they typically are. Go with someone who is reliable and reputable - I can give you names of excellent ones with good references if you would like some names and phone numbers). See if you can get a better interest rate than you have now, and what you would qualify for. You want to be careful that you don't end up with a higher payment with a new loan than you have now. Once you have determined what you can qualify for, sit down with a good Realtor and discuss where you would like to live - what area, price range, type of home, etc and have the agent find you homes that would be a good match for your needs.

For reference, the Mortgage lenders can do the numbers in reverse for you - ie they can start with where you want your payments to be and tell you what price point of a house to look at.

If you're looking in the greater St Louis area, I'd be happy to help you, if you are looking in other areas, I can refer you to agents in other areas, but first talk to a good mortgage lender (again, give me a call 314-660-4803) and I'll give you names and phone numbers of people who are very reputable and who if they honestly can't beat someone else's deal will tell you that and will tell you to use the other person.