<prompt> Human: Im in my lower 30s, USA Midwest and have been paying on my student loans for 8 years now, Ive got them down from over 50k down to 15k and I see the end and I cant wait to get out from under this debt but I cant stop thinking about how I want to buy a house. I know the interest rates are good right now and as a first time homebuyer with very good credit I should be able to get a loan with a low downpayment I understand 3 to 5 I think?Income: 2,650month after taxes, healthcare, pension, etcMoney in checking account: 12,500Student Debt3 loans: 15,500 9233295monthtotal of 519monthCar loan debt: 2,800 260monthRent: 800monthSo between my rentcarstudent loans Im paying over 1,500month 55 of take-home. I can free up 780 month by paying off my carstudent loans. I would like to buy a houseor condo with a mortgagetaxesHOAetc of around 1000month or less. Should I just use my savings of 12.5k as a downpayment and keep paying my loans as normal and put off buying a house for a year? Ive ran my budget though next year, and I can pay off all my loans by next January 6 months from now and be DEBT FREE with 5,000 left in my checking. My payoff debts as soon as possible budget puts me Debt Free by January 2017, and at 18,000 savings by January of 2018 but still renting. So debt free and a bigger downpayment, but puts off homebuying for 12-18 months.My homebuying budget and not paying off debt early has me using 10,000 for a downpayment in the next 6 months, means I would still be able to save and payoff all my loans by January of 2018. Just 1 year later.I really want to get debt free, but I really want to buy a house and stop wasting money on rent too. If I pay everything off first before saving for a downpayment, them Im renting for another year, and thats another 10,000 spent on rent. Im really leaning towards paying off my loans first. Do I risk interest rates going up by waiting a year, and if the economy keeps improving Im also nervous about rising home prices too.TL:DR. Payoff debt first? or use money for downpayment on house?  <response>: I would get rid of your debt before adding more debt. 