<prompt> Human: I make 80k a year but have a lot of bills and am paying for kids schooling. There are houses around that I can easily afford what would be the mortgage payment, but we have no extra money for down payments, costs, fee ,etc. I have found a couple 100 finance options that I qualify for. Are there any way to do the deal with no earnest money? Or is it a bad idea?  <response>: There are houses around that I can easily afford what would be the mortgage payment, but we have no extra money for down payments, costs, fee ,etc.Home ownership has more costs than just the mortgage payment. There is also home insurance and property taxes, and all the maintenance suddenly becomes your responsibility. So with your current renting situation, if your roof gets to a point it needs to be replaced, your landlord handles that. If you own, then that large expense suddenly becomes your own to deal with. This is why we will never recommend you buy a house without a large downpayment and a full funded emergency fund.Besides all of that, there are also plenty of costs associated just with the process of buying. This includes the inspection, which you will not want to cut down on because it can save you tons of money and headache later on by allowing you to request repairs, credits, or you can just walk away from a potential money pit if the inspection reveals too many defects. 