<prompt> Human: Im 30, wife is 29. We got married last year and have a goal to be homeowners this year. We are currently renting month to month -1,500 all in all utilities except cableinternet. Its a great deal in a crap town with crap neighbors. We have been here for 5 years so we want to get out. Im making 80k a year with a 15 annual bonus depending on company performance but its never not been the full amount. Wife makes 35k, no bonus. We have a little over 47k in savings, Im saving about 800-1000 a month. I have 22k in a 401k and 5k in an HSA. She just started her 401k this year, so not much there. Im contributing 7 roth with a 1 annual increase. As far as debt- I have 37k in college loans and 8k on a car- she has 5k in college loans and 8k on a car. No kids or other outstanding debt aside from 200-1000 on credit cards which we are always paying down off. Kids likely in the next 2-5 years. Homeownership terrifies and excites me. I know I can likely get a loan as we have decent income and very good credit scores 795750. What Id like to do is protect the savings account as much as possible as id like to keep a minimum of 25k as oh shit money so we can really have a disaster and still not sweat it too much. The rest Id like to get into an ira or something similar once the house stuff is settled. Ive heard first time homebuyers can skip down payments, is that true? Im soliciting advice anywhere I can get it. A home, as you all know is a major investment that can easily ruin financial situations if handled incorrectly. Any advice both general and specific to homebuying is very much appreciated.Also- first Reddit post ever. No idea what Im doing but Im always on this site. Sorry if I broke any rules  <response>: Ive heard first time homebuyers can skip down payments, is that true?Thats a bad idea. You dont want to start in a house already upside down. I can further elaborate if you want.Im generally not wild about people buying homes while in debt because its riskier and youre also in a worse position to buy a house because of it. Your 401k and IRAs should be out of this discussion for using on the home because you guys are already behind in retirement given your age. I think the best path forward is to use your savings to wipe your debts and start saving up a down payment. If you insist on buying a house anyway, then please have some kind of down payment with less of a monthly payment than you are already paying. 