<prompt> Human: So my wife and I have been home shopping for a little bit. Ive done lots of calculations and decided that I think I know what our budget is and what we can afford. Heres my details:Personal Gross income of 95KyrCash saving of 100K accumulated over the last 15 yearsMy wife works a couple part time jobs and clears maybe 20K. It doesnt contribute much to our bottom line, but she buys all our groceries and pays for her own medical insurance out of pocket. Which is actually cheaper than getting her onto my works plan. Thanks obamacare!Currently paying about 1400month in rent for a 1 bedroom apt. Looking to buy a small starter home.Problem being that we are in Northern VA. So where we are looking at, a 60 year old 3bed-1bath place runs about 450k500k. Now Ive run the numbers a hundred times, and determined that 500k is the limit of what I can afford. Ive gotten pre-approved from my bank for a 500k home on a conventional 20 down mortgage. All pretty much what I expected.Then yesterday I came across this thread:The situation there seemed sort of similar to my own only with much higher taxes on the property. But the person in that thread has twice as much money saved, and twice the income. So I thought it was a no-brainer and would be fine for him to take the plunge. But nearly every comment said dont do it. What am I missing here? Was it just that tax burden? Something more subtle I glossed over? Am I just crazy to think I can afford that much of a mortgage on my salary?  <response>: With rates today youll be fine as long as you dont have significant additional debt obligations. People in this thread are so goddamn conservative theyll recommend waiting until your almost dead and paying cash. Youre obviously responsible, and will save about 400mo with the tax deduction. Youll have equity and can sell if you need to. 