<prompt> Human: First off, this is my first post here, and I dont really know a lot about buying a house, economics, personal finance, etc. I am trying to learn, but please be informative and not condescending. Im here to learn. If this needs to go in a different sub, or you need more info, just let me know.Basically, my fiance and I are both full time students with a toddler. We will be moving to a bigger city next May with my mother she has lived with us for a while, its a great arrangement. We will be staying in that city until my daughter is done with 8th grade because there is an excellent school there that is only in that city. So basically we will be there from May 2014- sometime in 2025 or 2026. Rent there for the size of place we would need is around 1100-1500month. Since well be there for around 10 or so years, we were thinking that it would be better to go ahead and buy a house instead of renting the whole time. If we manage to find a place for 1100 a month, thats over 130,00 that we will have spent just on rent in 10 years. We could have a house partlymostly paid off, right? We have found pleanty of houses in the 130,00-175,000 price range. We are not worried about income. Between mine and my fiances student loans, and my mothers income we can more than afford the house and put money in savings. My fiance has worked part time at his job for two years, and got a promotion and has been working full time for almost a year. My fiance is also reserves in the military, so Im assuming that there is some sort of VA home loan or something? The problem is that my mom filed for bankruptcy in 2011 because of medical bills that have since been taken care of. Her income is stable now. Also, shell be retiring in April 2014, getting a big lump sum of money, and retirement pay. She also just finished two masters degrees, so she could easily get a supplemental income that would make her income alone over 100,000 a year. So, my concern is that we would not qualify for a loan since my fiance doesnt have the two years of full-time employment that most places look for, and my mom filed for bankruptcy. I really hope that all made sense. My mind is a jumbled mess trying to understand all of that and figure out what to do and where to start. My mom and fiance seem to understand all of this, but Id like to understand it for myself and get this subreddits opinion. I dont want to waste money paying rent for 10 years, but I have no idea if we could even buy a house, or if its even a good idea. I did the Rent vs. Buy calculator in the side bar and just filled in some random numbers, and it looks like buying would be better than renting after 5-8 years depending on numbers. Opinions? Again, please be nice and help me educate myself instead of rude and condescending. TL;DR- Fiance and I are students, fiance works full time. Mother is moving with us in may and we are considering buying instead of paying 1,000 in rent for 10 years. Mom filed for bankruptcy, fiance doesnt have 2 years of full time employment. Fiance is military, so could probably get VA home loan. Good idea to buy? Could we even qualify? Where do we start.Edit: You guys have given me a lot to think about, so thank you. And an extra thank you to those who actually listened and werent condescending and gave actual advice and experience. Im really starting to think asking reddit for advice is pointless because youll just be made to feel stupid... This subreddit is here to giveget advice, and I often see people making the OP feel silly instead of sharing advice and giving good explanations. Something to think about. Anyway, thanks again everyone.  <response>: For a bunch of degree holders, you arent very smart. 