<prompt> Human: Im genuinely perplexed.Either Im way too conservative, or less qualified borrowers are in for a world of pain due to loosened lending standards.Ive now spoken to two mortgage brokers to talk about mortgage pre-approval and the message is clear: were overqualified for the homes we want and anything less would be way too conservative.The problem is, every time we do the math, the numbers dont seem to make sense. Wed barely be saving a dime month to month. Even with the brokers knowing this and me sending them the spreadsheet, the continue to brush it off and say Im too conservative.I want reddits opinion - am I losing my mind?House: 450,000 with 12,000 per year in property taxes 20 downAssets: 220,000 in cash and cash equivalents Income: 115,000 Debt: None; no student loans, no car payments, no leases, no credit card debts. Nothing.It seems good on paper until you look at this:Net Monthly Pay: 6,500Less: Mortgage Taxes: 2,800 Portion of family health insurance not covered by employer: 1,000 Utilities: 500 Grocery: 400 Public Transport for Commuting: 350 Cell Phone Bill: 190 Lunch at work: 150 Cable Internet: 150 Gas for cars: 150 Baby stuff: 200 Car Insurance: 100 Misc haircuts, gifts, unforeseen stuff: 100 Gym membership: 50 Total expenses: 6,140 Remainder: 360 - with zero spend on any savings fun recreational activities factored in To me, that just seems incredibly tight. Am I grossly overestimating something here? When you have enough people talking to you like youre insane... you start to feel insane.We live in an area where 450k is bottom of the barrel. Were even considering relocating away from our jobs, friends and families just to get away from these costs... but wed rather not.Assistant: I dont think you are conservative at all. I would say 450k is too much house for a 115k salary. Also keep in mind that your expenses are not accounting for house upkeep, which is generally 1-2 of the value per year.Human: Interestingly, they said wed be able to get approved for 600k easily. This is why Im so confused. I was too young to buy a home in the bubble, but I wonder if this is what it was like?  <response>: Dont buy the biggest house you can afford. You do not want to be on the hook for a mortgage that takes up 43 of your income. I have just gotten my mortgage down to 30 of my income and I would really like it to be much lower. I bought my house in April of 2006. By the end of summer, it was worth 40 of what I paid for it. Im still upside down in the damn thing 