<prompt> Human: Im interested in potentially buying a home soon, but Im not sure if I would be approved for a mortgage in the price range Im looking for. I live in Florida and Im 21 years old. I have been serving for the past three years, and on paper I make close to 30k annually. I claim mostly everything, but not everything. I would guess I make maybe an extra couple hundred bucks a month at most. This is working about 25-30 hours a week. If it matters, I go to University full time and intend to graduate in about two years with a worthy degree. I pay for University out of pocket and have a single loan in the amount of 3000 that I used my first semester of University. Ive been living in an apartment alone for the past two years, my monthly bills are about 15001600- rent 900, electricwater 100-150, car payment 200 really 150, but paying extra to pay it off quicker, insurance 100, phone bill 50, food 150-200. Ive had no problem handling these bills the past couple years and have been living very comfortable. My credit score was about 750, it recently dropped to roughly 700 because my credit utilization was too high forty percent. I just paid off a lot of my debt and now my utilization is around 20 percent, maybe a bit lower, so Im hoping that will reflect in the next couple of months. Ive had credit established for about a year and a half, never missed a payment, never had a late payment, etc. I also have about 8k in savings and will continue to pad that as the months go on. Id like to have at least 10k ready before I consider purchasing a home.I do plan on talking to a mortgage broker to get professional advice, but Id like to get some general advice to see if getting a mortgage for around 150-200k is feasible, given the circumstance, before I get a professionals help. As a side note, I do plan on having a room mate and charging rent, so Im certain that I will be able to handle the payments and other costs involved since my mortgage will be effectively cut in half, but I will be applying for the mortgage alone so I dont think it really matters in the eyes of the broker. Its no big deal anyways, because I need to know if I would be able to afford a home solely based off of my salary. There are obviously a lot of things to take into consideration both before and after purchasing- general upkeep on a house versus an apartment, any remodeling I use remodeling loosely- repainting, new appliances, etc what area I will work after I graduate, market volatility, etc. I would also like to hear about anything I have not considered here or things I may not be aware of. But first and foremost, what is the likelihood of being approved for a mortgage given the circumstance? Assistant: Why are you planning to buy a house, now? You are working on your education. Maybe in two years time, you get an excellent job offer from somewhere else, hours or more away from the house that you bought. Then, if you would sell, you would probably lose money compared to renting. If you were to keep the house and move, youd suddenly be a distant landlord also not ideal. Renting will give you flexibility. Sometimes you need flexibility.I would continue to rent. I would start setting money aside for the time when you can buy a house. By that time youd preferably have 20 of the houses value as a downpayment, plus an extra 20k or so for closing costs and unexpected costs that sometimes happen when you buy a house. Human: Well, its not necessarily a decided thing.Suppose I do get an offer hours away from where I purchased the home- whats the problem with renting it out? Is it difficult to find renters?refreshed the post and you edited your comment- what is the problem with being a distant landlord?? Just not being able to see the state of the house at any given time?Renting does give flexibility, but I would also like to put my money into something that I can keep equity in, as opposed to just paying it out and never seeing it again.  <response>: Being a distant landlord SUCKS. Also, youre gonna need a lot more than 10k saved. A lot more. 