@jesussaves7763 When we got our house, we barely qualified. This was the very tail end of 2019. We made like $70k combined and had no down payment (VA loan). We also had somewhere around 30k in consumer debt! The cheapest houses in our area ran for maybe 280k and we somehow qualified for up to 350k. We found a house for 340k and ended up getting it. It cost nearly all of my monthly income, and my husband was responsible for all other bills. So we were very house poor! I also quit my job as soon as we got the house and started a new one- same hourly wage and much more long-term stability and potential for advancement, but a no-no nonetheless!
It ended up paying off for us. We purposely picked a home that had a basement we could rent out to family to help offset the mortgage, but also made sure we could cover the mortgage without renters. I always prioritized the mortgage payment above everything else. We managed to keep our jobs through Covid and I moved up at mine, getting promoted twice in my first year. It’s now been four years and I also received two pay adjustments (one quite sizeable) and annual raises. I have actually doubled my income and can now afford the mortgage on one paycheck. My husband has also recently landed a higher paying job so we are finally feeling somewhat safe. Now we have a property we love that still brings in rent money but that we can afford even without it.
A “wrong” idea we are considering in the future is adding a second story onto the house. Everyone says it makes more sense just to sell and buy the house you want, and we are considering that! But my FIL is a general contractor and it is something we could potentially do in about 5 years, if the conditions were right. We’ll have to see what makes more sense for us at the time.