<prompt> Human: Some background: I graduated college about 6 months ago with an engineering degree and was employed right off the bat. I quickly grew a 6 month emergency fund and am currently maxing out my Roth IRA. I rent an apartment and have run of the mill expenses rent, utilities, internet, etc. I am 22 and just date casually. I have autism and do not like being around other people that much. Ive learned this the hard way living in dorms and now this apartment. My job is extremely stable government employed and I live in an area with a higher cost of living than I would like that is further away from my job than cheaper areas but is the closest apartment complex. I pay around 1200 a month for my apartment. There are houses for sale in the cheaper places that still have decent standard of living for 100-120k in ideal locations for me no traffic but on a highway on the way to work, no forced interaction, large tract of land because I enjoy creating little hiking trails and ATV tracks. Current salary may sound small but its in the middle of nowhere in the South is about 70k and am on track to get to the next pay level that will get me to about 85k in the next 2 years. If it helps, my credit score always hovers around 800.I feel that I could very easily pay off one of these houses in well under 10 years. I know housing isnt optional, so paying rent is still allowing me to be alive, but I never like dumping money into something I cant get equity inown permanently. It might sound stupid, but I would be insanely happy to have my own little rural house and land to manipulate and enjoy. I dream about completely owning a house in my upper 20s.My concern is that even though I have the right credit score around 800 and credit history and I think the right income level, I am young and unproven. I also very recently left a job at a government contractor for government itself for job security. There isnt a days gap in employment, but I still worry that will be a black mark on my record. My current lease wont expire until December, so I have time to do things that will improve my chances. Im shoveling money away as much as I can to have a down payment, but Im not sure what I can do to improve my chances at getting a mortgage at my age.Assistant: Current salary may sound small but its in the middle of nowhere in the South is about 70kI dont know whats small about this salary lol. Im 21 not even making half, props buddy. Only thing I have going is my frugality and love for saving.Human: I might just be used to using the cscareeradvice sub, where I feel like a lot of people openly lie about their salaries, and there are lot of actual ones higher than mine - lots of new grads allegedly making like 200k.  <response>: Remember that your 70k in the a smaller city in the South may be equivalent to around 140k in SFSV. Thats something people rarely include in those posts for engineering or CS. 