<prompt> Human: Hey Reddit, id like some insight.Have a great stable job with a very indemand skill in financial field. No debt, living at home saving cash. want to move out now and put 537; down on a home thats 2 floors and i would be able to rent the bottom as it has a full bathroom patio and large bedroom. It would put me 15 mins from work too so makes biking an option. Putting 537; down would leave me strapped for cash.Putting 337; conventional loan would leave me with some nice money to do some updates on the house. using a first time homebuyer program would leave me with lots of cash but a high interest rate like 637;!! but they give 437; of the purchase price upfront as your down payment.What would you advise? I dont understand why so many people dissuade younger people from buying. I know i will be semi anchored here i want to , this house is a mile from train station if i ever needed to be in nyc. ive traveled already ive seen most cities, i like this part of my state i have friends, families, conenctions here why would i move? my job potential is here. my father owns a business here and i use his business to generate some income we fix and flip cars. I just want my own space now since it gets real tough being business partners and living with your father. my relationships would improve. hard to bring girls home like that. and if whatever happens and i did want to be more mobile, i can just rent the house out, its in a desirable town although the house is on a busier street, but this is my starter home, a true investment that will eventually go cash flow positiveedit: by the time closing comes mid july i will have a rainy day fund 3 months expenses in addition to what i have now closing downpayment. Ill then save up for 9 months expenses emergency fund which will take 4 months if i have a renter and 8 months if Im paying the mortgage all myself. Thoughts?  <response>: People tend to overestimate the extent to which houses are good investments; sometimes they are, sometimes not so much. In general, if you are buying a house to live in, buy a house that you can live in for the foreseeable future. You say that you can do 3.5 but 5 would leave you strapped for cash, so you dont seem to be very financed going into this idea. 