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we desperately want to get OUT of our (rented) house, because we're next door to the ILs. long, long story.

but we don't want to rent because everything would be more money than we are paying now (we are getting a deal through his parents, it's 1/2 what a mortgage would be). we also don't *want* to rush into buying, but...that's the next step unfortunately.

so we're making sure we have about 3% of a general house cost in savings for a down payment and we'll work closing into the deal. we also want to get out credit card debt down by a LOT (we'd like to get it to 1/5 of what it currently is), build our credit scores and make sure we could afford a mortgage on one salary.

we're looking at looking at houses in a little over a year or so, I think.

We new we would be here for at least the next 5 years barring any extraordinary circumstances. We absolutely wanted to be able to put down 20% and still have a very comfortable amount in savings forany emergency that may come up (with the house or anything else). We also had no other consumer debt. My jus has some student loans but a very small amount. And we bought a house that was much less expensive than the max we could afford. While it would be a stretch we could still afford our mortgage even if one of us were to lose our job. This allows us to feel more secure and to continue saving for our future.

we were spending a ton of money in rent and wanted to invest that money in a house! our mortgage payment is the same as our rent and we have a nicer bigger house! also we were expecting and I had always wanted a house of our own before the baby came.

@mrs. bird: we wound up in a unique situation where we didn't have to pay a down payment (purchased in a rural area that was being built up for the first time) so our savings never took a hit when we bought our house. We have a few thousand for emergencies, but we also have a home warranty that covers major repairs that may come up. Also, my FIL is an HVAC owner so he can help us with one of the major big potential costs of home repairs :heating and air conditioning. Finally, DH is really handy so he can do almost all of any issues or repairs that are needed on the house. Except for plumping stuff. So that's how we are able to feel comfortable with all of the repair responsibility aspects.

@MrsBird: We're planning on purchasing a home early next year. The primary reason is (in agreement with @Mrsaudi) to have a home before we have a baby - I hate not being able to truly decorate. But we have also found that we could own a brand new nice home for the same price as what we pay for a 2 br apartment, so for us it just makes more sense. We need to be saving more (for a lot of reasons) but I think once we buy our house, that will be the next thing we save for - the unexpected things.

We found out we were pregnant. We didn't want to have a baby in the apartment, and nicer/roomier rentals had comparable prices to owning a home. So we did the math and figured out a way to put 20% down on a large house we could grow into over 10-15 years.

Our goal was to not overstretch ourselves with a mortgage (hence the 20%), and choose a place that would be a good investment. It will take a while to recover from the down payment, but I think it was ultimately the best financial choice we could have made.

I was lucky enough to have a lot of money in savings. After college I lived with my parents and they supported me while I worked and put all my earnings in savings. Yes... I have awesome parents! They wanted me to be able to move out on my own someday and be ok, and I ended up moving in with dh, who already owned a townhouse. We also got a lot of money for our wedding gifts that we put towards the house.

Now all of our savings is pretty much gone and its very scary.... but we're able to turn to our parents if need be. His parents are able to lend us money, and my parents will usually give us money if we need it. We obviously try never to ask for it because nobody likes to ask for money..... but its nice to know we wont go homeless or roofless or something.

We were renting a nice house from a crazy lunatic. We got married last November and I knew I wanted to start TTC. Our lease was up in May and I knew if I was pregnant and had to deal with our psycho, cheapskate, passive aggressive landlord for another year, I'd lose it. We cut it close financially - we had just enough in wedding gifts for 3.5% down through an FHA loan but by a crazy twist of fate we ended up with money leftover. It wasn't ideal - I originally wanted more in savings - but worked out. So for us it was a decision spurred my my total wits end lol. Also our mortgage is $50 more per month than rent and the place is ours with no landlord looking over our shoulder. We paid exactly what the house was worth in an improving market (for our area). No regrets!

Unless you are buying a new house where things are under warranty, have money set aside for unexpected expenses (e.g., new water heater, flooding repairs, etc.). We set aside a few hundred dollars per month to go towards our "House" fund. 1-3% is a great starting point. As mentioned above, you spend quite a bit in your first year...i can't tell you how many trips were made to Home Depot and Walmart!

We have a separate emergency fund which covers 6 months of expenses should either one of us lose our jobs.

When we bought our first home, i had just found a job (i had moved to a new city for my DH) so our house choice was based on just DH's salary alone. It is a lot less stressful buying a home that you know you can comfortably afford. You can always upgrade down the road...there is nothing wrong with having something modest as your starter home. Also factor in whether you will be able to afford the mortgage payments should interest rates rise.

I know it's a nerve-wracking decision. Good luck!

One note: make sure your school district is a good one! We have some friends who bought a great place, but the school is terrible so now they have to move out and rent a new place in a better school district!

DH was saving for a house for us even before we moved in together. Our situation is a little different because we'd known each other for while before getting together and I moved another country to be with him. So right from the beginning, we were already serious: with the visa and all the necessary prep to move, we had to be. We lived in his old college apartment for about a year before we found a place.

We basically looked around and attended open houses whenever we could. We didn't apply for a loan until we found a townhouse we liked. That townhouse ended up in a bidding war, way above our budget and even more than our single family home now! From that, we got pre-approved based on DH's salary alone (we weren't even engaged then). We were able to put down 20% plus closing and inspection costs, in total was about 23% of the total price of our home.

We pretty much emptied our savings! We lived on my savings for the first month or so. Looking back now, that was pretty scary but we have no consumer debt and trusted that our house was clean of any structural defects and we wouldn't be surprised by anything hidden. Having said that, there was an unexpected expense - we had to replace the chimney because it was leaking! It scared the crap out of me, but there was no mold or water damage associated with it (thank goodness)!

We got a great deal on our place and our mortgage isn't so much more than our rent used to be. We have a yard, a guestroom, and enough room for a family of 4. We just had our first baby and it's really nice to be able to decorate her room and fix-up the yard for when she starts walking.

My suggestion is to just look around for fun. You'd be surprised how your preferences will change when you see enough homes. And you never know when a home will motivate you to take the plunge!