Hello ....
Yes Marchish should be fine to start looking. Generally about 30 days to the closing table once you are under contract on a home. At least here in Okla that is.
As a Realtor l will say this much.... If you are going to use a Realtor (highly recommended) STAY WITH ONE... don't Realtor jump. Your Realtor can help you with any home listed with any other Realtor. So once you start working with one (as long as you click) stick with them. Call and give them addresses of interest if you see one while driving around. If you go to an open house let the Realtor that is present know UP FRONT that you are working with ______ and you will be using him/her to write your offer. Alot of times an agent will pull the "well I can write it up for you, no problem" line. That is sooooo frustrtaing to a Realtor who has worked with a buyer then POOF... they have another agent write the offer. Hope that makes sense.
Make sure you have your loan approval letter from your lender ready to go when you are ready to write an offer and it is not expired. Each company is different on how long the approvals are good for. It is always good to send an approval with your offer.
I wish you luck with your search. It is FUN but can be a little stressful. Let your Realtor help you through the process and everything will go great!!!