<prompt> Human: Hi PersonalFinance. I am 23 years old and I want to buy a house. I know no one can tell me whether or not that is a good idea without knowing a metric ton of details about my life and being able to see my future, but I am going to try to give a brief description of myself and my assets, and any input on my situation and plan would be appreciated. About me and my current finances: - I am a 23 year old college graduate and have been at my very stable job for 2 years. I make 51k per year, averaging a 10-15 raise per year so far. My take home is average 2700 per month. - I currently rent with my boyfriend, who will NOT be having any part buying the house because we are not married and do not yet have imminent plans to be. Our rent is currently 1200month and will be going up to 1400month in July, and we split it 5050. If I buy a house, we have discussed and we will continue to split the mortgage and utilities 5050. Other house costs will go to me.My debts: - About 7k at 3.5 in student loans, at the current rate will be paid off within 3 years.- About 9.5k outstanding on my car loan at 2.29. Which I regret taking out, rather than buying a cheaper car when my last paid off, sigh car got totaled. I have about 4 years left on that loan at 200 per month.My savings: - Roughly 32k in a high yield 1.45 savings account and I currently contribute 1000month to that account. - 8.5k in a 5-year CD with Ally, which has 4.5 years to maturation projected 10k. - My 401k is at 8.5k and I contribute 10 with 3 employer match.I live in a generally HCOL area, but I have been able to find properties that I like and that are in good condition aka not a fixer upper in the low-mid 200s. I am looking only at houses that are relatively new, or have been rehabbed and major appliances are newer and in good condition, in hopes that I will not have any major renovations in the first few years but of course, anything can happen and that is why I have savings. Unfortunately, I dont have enough for a full 20 down payment at this point. This I think is my only downfall at the moment. That, and my stupid car payment. I think 25k is the highest Id feel comfortable taking out of my savings for a down payment so I dont completely drain my savings. Still, for a property at 230k with a 25k down payment, my mortgage including PMI, home insurance, etc is projected to be around 1200.My reasoning for wanting to buy a house:- Stability. I have moved every single year since my junior year of college 2014. It is so tiring. I want to plop myself down somewhere and stay, and not worry about searching for a new place to live again in 10 months. I have every intention of staying at least 5 years, if not longer.- Comparable price. My rent is about to go up to 1400month. I am not happy about that, but it is still most likely cheaper than if I were to move again. I do not plan take out a mortgage where my monthly payment is more than 1400month.- Space. I lived in a tower complex during school, apartments, and townhouses since I moved out. I want some space. I want to be away from other people and I want my own yard this ties into my next point.- Pets. Ive never been able to get a pet in any of my rentals. As of right now and my foreseeable future, I dont think I will ever want children. But I want pets and I want a yard for them to run around in, and I dont want to have to pay hundreds of dollars to every landlord to allow a pet.Now I know this was kind of a wall of text. I am sorry about that, but I wanted to include and lot of information. I hope the bullet points helped.I have thought this out very thoroughly, and I feel like Ive gone over everything in my head. But I know I havent thought of everything, so that is why I turn to you all. Hopefully anyone has some insight on anything I may have overlooked or could be wrong about. EDIT: Wow, I have received so many more comments than anticipated. I realize now that I may have underestimated the costs associated with buying AND I may not be allotting my savings to the right places. Like my debt. I got it now. Seriously. Im relatively new to all of this stuff, so I thought I was doing good. But Im going to use all of this advice and change up what Im doing from now on.My plan of attack is to pay off the debt, funnel money into savings for my down payment, and either look into a cheaper house in the future or wait a few years until my salary is a little higher.Thanks to everyone who gave well thought-out advice, explained to me what I was doing wrong and how to fix it, and for your personal anecdotes.  <response>: I bought a house at 24. I do not regret it and I love my home but it is work! I live comfortably and have been able to work towards getting rid of debt and work on financial goals, but the cost impact of homeownership is very real. I chose a house under what I was approved for and went for a bank owned home that needed some TLC and renovations. I currently have a to-do list for my house that is pending funding, including known maintenance things. My roof and heat pump are getting past their prime, so I am fully expecting those replacements may not be far off.My property taxes have gone up every year nothing crazy but it still has led to an escrow shortage, which you can pay lump sum or have adjusted into your mortgage.I also have had to finance so many other things including: tools I did not have, a lawnmower, a shed to house said lawnmower. The random little things add up as well like the stupid vent I have under my sink.I just want you to realize that a million things creep up with homeownership and if you are a young homeowner before your friends, these will be priorities they may not understand. You may also experience missing out on things with them because you need to allocate money or your time elsewhere. I have had to pass on suggested plans on the weekend simply because I have needed to have enough daylight to mow my yard. Being a homeowner also requires time away from work sometimes. You will need to meet the repairman, etc. and that is not always possible to perfectly fit around a work schedule.These are just things I did not fully realize until it was all said and done and I figured it might be helpful for you to have up front and really think about. The commitment is huge and it can definitely be worth it but take the time to set yourself up in the best position you possibly can because there is not an easy way to walk away once you are in. 