<prompt> Human: My fiance and I are giving serious though to where we are going to live after we get married late June. Id prefer a small condo that we can hopefully be aggressive with 15 year fixed, but she is fixated on a small house over 30 years. Im just looking for advice given our current situation as first time buyers. Ive done a bit of research but there is a LOT of information out there and I can only absorb so much in the time frame we have in place. Ill give you guys a little starter information to give you a picture of our finances. Our market is Orange County, California which is very pricey.Im 34 years old, credit score about 720, zero credit card debt, 42k a year, 8k in savings, vehicle is in good condition and is paid off, no kids, no other major payments I can think of.Fiance is 28 I like em young ;, credit score 790, zero credit card debt, 38k a year, 20k in savings, vehicle is also in good condition and is payed off, no kids or other major bills. Family and close friends owe me around 9k and I MIGHT be able to get something from there. Her parents are also open to the idea of helping us financially to the tune of 20k depending on if they like the place lol. I am an army vet so I do qualify for the VA loan. My head space right now is telling me we should be able to get a great rate on a condo and be aggressive in paying it off, but I am open to whatever good ideas come my way. I looked into foreclosed homes and REO properties but I feel that is way out of my current experience level. I wouldnt mind sinking money into a fixer-upper as long as the end result is a good value for our money but I would need professional, trustworthy guidance. Im hoping to stay sub 350k if possible. Thank you all for your help!  <response>: 80k in income. 350k budget. 15 year note. Im not sure how in the world youd ever qualify for that much house or how you could afford to pay for it. Have you done the math on that payment or talked to a bank yet about what youd actually qualify for? I think youre about 200k high on your estimate there. Also, thats an awfully generous gift from her parents that will most likely come with some pretty serious strings attached. Id be really careful gift like that. Finally, you need to write off those loans to family and friends. Those were gifts. If they were loans, they would be paying you back in installments as they can. Anything you see back from those you should consider an unplanned windfall. 