<prompt> Human: Wanted your opinion on my situation:26 Y.O. single male living in San Francisco. I am currently paying a ridiculous 1900 to rent a studio apartment in a nice part of town but building no equity. If I look at my monthly expenses and the mortgage interest tax deduction that I would get, I think that I could afford a monthly mortgage payment including everything of about 3500-4000. This would allow me to afford a 1 bedroom condo at a price of 450K to 500K. Unfortunately, I dont have the 100K to put on a down payment at this point, but I do have about 50k. If I were to buy a place now, I would have to pay PMI, but I could probably get up to 20 in like 1-2 years and get that removed. The other option is to just wait the probably 2-3 years it would take to get the other 50K to have the 20 down. When I run the numbers and I try to predict my net worth in 3-5 years, it seems like be higher if I buy a place now mostly increased by more equity in the house versus just waiting and renting for like 3 more years. Plus, I would be able to take advantage of the lower home prices and interest rates that currently exist. But, this would all come with the higher risk of 10 down on a house. What is your opinion on my particular situation? What should I do: buy now or wait?Edit: Thanks to everyone for pointing out my math error!!! I feel so dumb for some reason, I was thinking about my emergency fund of 25k when I wrote the post, which will probably have to be higher if I buy a place too.  <response>: If this is true 2-3 years it would take to get the other 25K, my first thought is that you should not be taking on a 500k mortgage. Couple relevant and unanswered questions. What is your income? What are your other debts? Is there anyone else who will be supportingcontributing to your finances? 