<prompt> Human: My wife and I and 2 kids are ready to get out of the rental cycle and into building equity in a home. Both the wife and I are working, and the kids are 10 and 7 no help there D. I make around 37kyear, and my wife makes around 20k a year. We are currently paying rent on a 2.5 bedroom, and that is 975month no utilities or anything included. Additional items to consider are; I am a veteran and have access to the VA housing loan program, We have crappy credit due to medical bills and student loans. Student loans are around 7-9k and the medical bills are around 4-6K so we are not carrying super amounts of debt, we just havent been in a stable enough financial situation where it has been viable.I I guess I would need help with where to go to find a loan for a home, around 200K, because the monthly payment on that is about what we are paying now, according to all the other info I have read.We live in Vermont.Thank you!  <response>: Idea: Since youre unable to keep on top of your bills and eliminate your debt in your current situation, I think you should consider buying a house with a payment thats LESS than your rent.Reasons: I dont think you can actually afford the rent youre paying. If you could, you would have eliminated the medical debt at least. Utilities on a house are likely to be significantly more than utilities on an apartment Maintenance costs can be brutal, especially if youve never owned a home before and you arent prepared. You should expect to pay 1-4 of the houses value every year on repairs. On a 200,000 house, thats 2,000-8,000 a year. In your current situation, if you got hit with 8,000 repairs in one year which could easily happen if you needed a roof, foundation work, a new furnace, a dangerous tree taken down, or, god forbid, all of the above youd be in a pretty bad way financially.So it seems to me that youre not ready to buy, and that you definitely shouldnt buy a 200,000 house. I know thats not what you want to hear.Instead: Look for ways to boost income and lower expenses tighten the budget, quit cable, get a second job, look for ways to boost income and throw all extra money at your debt. That will help improve your credit, and will also reduce the amount of money going out to debt payments each month. Wait til you have eliminated the medical debt at least, and saved up a healthy emergency fund you didnt say anything about savings THEN consider buying a house, and buying one that wont significantly increase your monthly expenses compared with where youre living now. 