<prompt> Human: Ive been reading several posts on this subreddit regarding how much house and more specifically how much mortgage payment one can afford.I currently take around 2050 after taxes and after health insurance, union dues, and 401k contributions. Everyone at work has told me that I should take advantage of the fact that here in Dallas I can buy a lot of home for not a lot of money.Some specifics about me:I have zero debt.I am single, healthy, and have no outstanding obligations or liabilities other than the car which I own and do not make payments on. Right now I am making not very good money but because I work for a global company I have a solid and established career path that takes me to gaining closer to at least 80,000 in about 6 years this is a conservative estimate.My question is, even with the housing market in the DallasFt. Worth area on the uptick, would it be wise to purchase a starter home My target zone is from 110k-180k using a 30 year fixed rate mortgage and having to pay PMI or continue to rent at 1000 per month : I would like to build equity and while I know that 20 percent of 2050 is 410 which seems like a stretch to find a house with a mortgage payment of 410mo., I still think its better to be throwing money at a mortgage than at a rental apartment.What do you guys think?  <response>: I would definitely advise against buying a house. Your income is too low. Houses have a lot of hidden costs. Make sure you are factoring in property taxes, home insurance, maintenance, PMI, HOA fees, etc. FYI: Texas has one of the highest property tax rates. You dont have enough saved. Even if you used all of your 10k, that would be between 5-10 down. That also doesnt cover closing costs which will likely be several grand. Also, if you wipe out that savings, that leaves you vulnerable when you have a large unexpected expense and they do happen.Your rent definitely seems high to me for one person in DFW. I rented for 4 years prior to buying my house and lived in 700 sqft for 700month Plano. It was not rundown either it was actually really nice. Im sure it has gone up some since then, but 1000 still seems high. My advice is to wait until your income catches up. I think it is a mistake to count on the money before it is earned. I have a friend who bought a house a few years back by barely qualifying and putting nearly nothing down. In the 3 years they were in the house, the roof needed to be repaired, they had foundation problems and had a flood. They are now renting now and much happier. 