Hello everyone,
I have been thinking about buying a house for a while now.
The reason that I didn't buy a house yet is, I am single guy and
I feel like once I bought the house, a large portion of my income
will go to the house payment and expenses.
I have a decent income close to 60k. I have about 3K debt.
I feel like investing is a way to go for a single person. May be
buy the house paying cash in the future. Anyway I really appreciate if you
could give me any advices and opinions.
Thanks,
DaveT

Well you did not state you age but you stated you do have debt. Why is that not paid off?
How much money do you have for an emergency fund?
Do you have 20% saved to put down on a home purchase?
How is your retirement plan?
Do you want the responsibilities of mowing, raking, cleaning a bigger living area, or having to fund the cost of roof issues, cracked driveways or foundations, pest control, AC/Heast issues, ect?

Also factor in buying lawn equipment like a mower, ect, and the additional heating/cooling cost,repairs,ect.

With all that you should not be spending more the 30% of your income total into housing which would include, mortgage, utilities, and all other included liabilities.

There is a lot of money and time that goes into owning a house so personally I would not buy in your position. You could not afford to much house or have the time to properly take care of it. I would focus on saving, investing, and retirement.

Now is a great time to buy a house. If you have the ability to put a down payment down and you can get a good interest rate do it now before rates start going back up. I would look into bank owned homes. Find someone that specializes in them and look for a great deal.

LOL. You got a few good years before you'll see Real Estate jump. Take your time and save your money before you jump into a time/money pit. Being so much invested in RE right now is not a good move if you are not diversified and/or can not "truly" afford it. Pay off you debts, secure yourself with a 7-9 month emergency fund, fund your retirement, and save up 20% down payment, while you can. Then if your ready, buy a home. Just because rates or other incentives might be floating around doesn't mean you should run out and buy.

Hey man, you need to live somewhere. Might as well have some of your cash go to equity.

User Name - gave some great advice - Get rid of ALL your debt, save some money and then think about buying a house.
Now is a good time to buy - but i think even greater bargains will show themselves in the future.

while the advise of user name is good, you should remember that on your credit file there is some good debt, so I do not know about the details of your debt, nor do I know where you live, 60k is not great when you live in NYC or Orange County etc, I believe real estate will take a while to appreciate agin and it will be in the max 5% per annum per year with much higher interest rates when it happens, now is a good time to buy if you can afford it and have the discipline, but only if you are in a lower value environment, because frankly with 60K you are not getting anywhere fast.
I suggest you make a financial status, assemble what you actually have and its value and then make up your mind about your expenses, which you should list in detail as well, after that you will know clearly what you have left at the end of the month, that will give you the right data to plan something, otherwise you build on sand

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If your location is in MN, I dont think an income of 60K is bad at all. Talk to a bank first to see what you're approved for. After that start looking at houses and seeing what each house's payment would be and if you can afford it.

Dave,
It is good that you are being cautious in considering a house purchase. There are a lot of things to consider before jumping into home ownership, but properly done it can be rewarding in many ways. The decision is very personal and in no way can be answered in a forum. HUD has a lot of fantastic information regarding this. You can find a lot of it on their website. On that website you will find the answers to a lot of questions as well as questions that you need to ask. You can also follow a link that will help you find a local HUD approved housing counselor. Many of them (like us) offer free workshops that you can attend. At the workshops you will have realtors, mortgage brokers, title agents, insurance representatives and credit experts speak and answer questions. They are not there to sell but to help you answer exactly the question that you are asking.