<prompt> Human: Hello folks. So my wife and I are going to be speaking to a Realtor today about potentially buying our first starter house. We currently rent, and from what I can see, we can get a 2-3 bedroom house in the same area for a cheaper monthly cost than it would be to continue renting. Here is a breakdown.Combined income 55,000 Edited to reflect a recent raise I wasnt taking into account.Combined monthly costs total 2,500Total savings 10,000This means that we bring in roughly 4,000 a month after taxes maybe a tad less and our total monthly expense is 2,500, which leaves 1,500 over to go into savings or be put towards additional payments above the minimum on debts.Our rent right now for a 1 bedroom is 858, and Im told thats high for our area. Looking at various houses in the area, I can see that getting a starter house for us seems like it might be a smart idea. Houses around here are very nice, and some of the cheaper ones go for between 120k - 170k. This means on a 30 yr mortgage, our monthly payments look to potentially be cheaper than our rent. Now, I know about all the additional hidden costs, so lets ballpark our monthly payments on a house coming out to be even slightly higher than our rent at 1,000mo.I should also mention that my father has said that hes willing to help us with a down payment.What do you folks think? Will this work out? Is it a dumb idea? Thanks.Assistant: Howdy...So Ive got a 200,000 mortgage... with HOA and PMI and insurance and property tax which isnt that bad Im paying 1435mo.Then... electric, watersewer, cable, car insurance, cell phone, student loan, food, gas, Its costing us every bit of our 3500mo we make.So lets add up yourspouse to be 3800mo take home... doesent have a lot of wiggle room in there.Yes, its doable. But remember, this is 2 incomes at 55 grand. So I assume you both make about 25 grand a year.So what does that mean? When your wife gets pregnant and has a kid and stays home... no you cant afford this house.When your wife gets pregnant and has a kid and you decide to put them in daycare at 800mo... no, you cant afford this house.Play out the next 5 years and see how it goes. The house wont change.Figure out how much help from your dad youll need to get the mortgage low enough to be able to survive on 1 paycheck. Job loss and kids are always a possiblityHuman: I make 35k and she makes 20k. We have no plans to have children in the next 2-3 years until we both finish school. She has her bachelors in psychology but has decided to switch gears and go for a nursing degree instead. I will be finishing my bachelors in about a year or so, at which point my income potential will shoot way up as there are many IT jobs in the area that are looking for a bachelors as well as some experience, which I have 4 years of.You are right that on current numbers, if anything changes or catastrophe hits, well be in hot water. But I think our emergency fund covers us, at least partially. No?  <response>: 2-3 years is almost surely not long enough. Even a 200k house will cost probably 15k to sell. 