<prompt> Human: So my goal is to buy a house before 2017 ends but I have no idea if its realistic though since I have not much of an idea what this includes. I currently have 10k saved up but planning on atleast tripling the amount before then. The only debt I have is 6500 in school bills. I rent an apartment right now for about 1200 a month and my only other bills are phone and cable bills. I dont have a credit card though I applied for one about 6 months ago to try to build my credit and got declined, Im not too sure why though, and havent tried since since it bummed me out. The only thing that I can see that hurt my credit rating was 3 years I was out of work from a motorcycle accident for 6 months and missed 2 school load payments 1 phone payment and had a hospital bill I didnt know about but they have all since been paid off but Im not sure if they are hurting me or not. So what can I do to make this dream a possible reality or should I plan for 2018 instead even though apartment living is getting to my last nerve! Thanks for your help Ill try to answer anything I can through out today!  <response>: Just want to warn you that you will very likely be unable to buy a home before the end of 2017. Even if we dont consider your credit, income, etc, even finding a home you want and can afford takes a long time, and the buying process from there is long. Sure, people can decide they want to buy a home, and have one picked out, purchased, and moved into in a few weeks. But most people spend more than 6 months house shopping, 1-3 months purchasing. That leaves you 3-5 months to get your credit built up a bit, pay off your student loan pay it off as soon as possible, determine what you think you can afford, readjust what you thought you could afford to a more realistic number, save up a down payment, and get pre-qualified for a mortgage with a bank that doesnt suck ass.Thats the simplified list. How do you build up your credit in 5 months when you have never had nor currently have a credit card? I have no clue. Getting a credit card right now will drop your score for three months at least before it will start to positively impact your credit. Not sure if secured credit cards do that too. Youve got a busy year ahead of you. 