I thought I would take real questions from other high volume subreddits and give my take on them. Hopefully this helps if you're in a similar situation.

Hi! I (21F) am aiming to buy a house in October ‘26 when my lease on my apartment is up. I make between 60-65k a year (depending on my overtime), I have a 761 credit score, and I have a car payment of ~450/month (I’m always ahead on it though lol) with 29k left to pay. I’m looking to buy a house in the 150-175k range.

With a year to prepare, this person should be able to get in a good spot to buy.

I recently did a post on Oklahoma City homes for sale, and I bet she could find a decent one that she could find, and it wouldn't wreck her budget.

Not loving that auto-loan though.

Gross income is $5k per month

A lender will approve up to a max of 49% debt to income ratio.

So take $5k x 0.49 = 2,450 and subtract out the $450 per month for the auto loan.

The absolute max a lender would approve would be $2,000 per month for a housing payment (principal and interest, homeowners insurance, property taxes, HOA fees, and mortgage insurance)

That lender max puts you in a tough spot though.

$1,500 would be 30% of the gross monthly income, and would probably put this borrower in a better spot.

Let's see if a house in OK around $150k would get something like that.

How much should I be saving for a down payment? I currently have about 3500 in my savings.

A minimum of 3% is needed for a down payment ($4,500 on a $150k property)

Don't forget closing costs which could run around $6k

Sellers could pay a portion of that (3% is the max a seller can contribute on a conventional loan when the down payment is less than 10%)

Depending on the type of market you're in (seller's or buyer's) you could need a max of $11k and a minimum of $6,000.

Is that a feasible timeline?

Yes! One year is more than enough time

Is my age going to make getting a loan more difficult?

The only way your age matters is if you're trying to get a reverse mortgage or not (age restrictions) or if you're under 18.

I’m going back to school and I will likely have to take out student loans, though I’m going to try my damndest to avoid that; will that affect my getting a loan?

Underwriting on conventional Fannie Mae loans will count 1% of your student loan balances against your debt to income ratio. So you'll need to factor that in.

Any and all advice is appreciated! Thanks!

P.S. I live in Oklahoma, if that helps with context for answers.

Here's a fun exercise. You can see if you qualify for better rates by checking out the "AMI lookup tool" from Fannie Mae

If you're at 80% or below of the income, you'll qualify for HomeReady, which offers lower mortgage insurance, and lower rates.

If she were buying in Oklahoma county, she'd qualify. 80% of the area median income is $78,640 and she's below that.

Real life scenario

Let's pretend she's going to buy this $150k house in Tulsa https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5512-N-Hartford-Pl-Tulsa-OK-74126/22181554_zpid/

I have no clue if it's a nice area or not, but let's use it.

Sales price: $150k

Loan amount: $145,500

Interest rate: Today's average is 6.3% on mortgage news daily

Payment:

• $900 Principal and interest
• $30 mortgage insurance
• $200 homeowners insurance
• $40 property taxes
• $1,170 total monthly payment

Down Payment: $4,500

Closing costs: ~$6,000 (guessing here)

Total Cash: $10,500 if the seller doesn't pay anything.

If she wanted a house that's priced $10k more, it might raise her payment about $60 per month

What I'd suggest she do

Get in touch with a realtor, see how likely it would be for the seller to pay for closing costs.

(Use the agent finder in the community guide if you don't know where to find a good one.)

If it's unlikely that the seller will pay, see how long it would take to save up to $10,500

Or check local down payment assistance programs. Perhaps there's a grant or a forgivable loan she could qualify for.

(there's a guide for all 50 states in the subreddit community guide)

The $1,170 is 23% of her gross monthly income.