<prompt> Human: Right now we pay 850 a month for my step son to rent an apartment in Tempe so my wife wants to buy a 170k condo or house for him and a roommate. The mortgage would be 800 per month with 10,000 down. To get the down payment she wants to take it out of her 401k eg, we have 0 in savings as we have a kid in ASU and every penny is accounted for in our budget.We would charge his roommate 500 per month plus utilities.My step son only has two more years of school and he will probably come home to look for a job in California. My wife wants to then sell this place and is convinced real estate always increases in value or we can just rent it.Over the next two years we will pay 20,400 total at 850 per month in rent and my wife wants to recoup that money by thinking it could be equity in a home instead of rent. I would gladly pay 20,000 never to have to go house shopping in Tempe, Arizona not to mention all of the headaches and stress that comes with owning a second homerental property. We have no other disposable income, but have configured things where tuition and rent comes out of our paychecks without needing extra. So we make it, but anything goes wrong job loss, illness etc and the whole thing comes tumbling down. Which one of us is crazy?  <response>: Sounds like spoiled brat syndrome. Tell her to grow a pair and prepare him for smart living and prudent fiscal management.I would be very hesitant to buy in Tempe. The market is tenuous at best, resale is stagnant and with oil prices tanking so hard, interest rates likely to go up, affordability will nonetheless go down and while the cost of living is relatively low, if youre not staying in Tempe, why would you want added responsibility!? Management and tenancy is not easy as pie. Can you afford to service the mortgage while youre looking for a tenant??? 