>>507775663Higher down payment.
My childhood friend just got a $260,000 home with only a 3.5% down payment, his total loan due to 6% interest over the next 30 years equates to $740,000. Even if his house doubles in value over the next 10 years, he cant even sell it because he'll only have paid $50,000 towards principle.
Save up for a 10% down payment, do NOT fall for the FHA scam. FHA is meant to get you into a quarter million dollar house for only $7,000 down, so that they can rape you for the next 30 years. Chances are in 30 years you won't be making the same salary you do now, you'll likely be on SSDI, and have to give the house back to the bank. That's exactly what they set FHA up for. It's just renting with extra steps.
There's nothing wrong with renting into your 40's as long as your planning to buy a home one day. Just leverage it against your expected life span. Gonna pay the house off before you're 60? before you're 80? before you're dead? These are important questions. The only time its acceptable to take on a 30 year loan at 6% interest with only 3.5% down, is if you have a $500,000+ life insurance policy on yourself so that you family can pay off the house when you die, which is still financially reasonable.