For what it's worth, we're going to be out of town the second half of July. I don't think we can have a house-guest who is a dog, but if one or both of you wanted to come out (sans dog) and do some househunting and stay here for free and have unlimited use of a car/kitchen/etc., so long as you feed and water and play with the cats, water 2 plants, and bring in mail, that could work out great for everyone :).

Craigslist should give you an idea of housing prices. I'm not sure how fast it is to find a place nowadays.

No idea about the hair. It's lovely and thick so I'd say don't cut it all off, but that's my bias.