curtis73 wrote: I don't want to be house poor. I hate the idea of having to work to afford a house that I spend no time in because I have to work so much to afford it. I don't ever want to stress about how I can make a payment. My personal goal is to not spend more than 20% of my income on a mortgage. At $36k/yr (which is just over $2100/mo take home with zero exemptions on my W4) that means no more than about $400/mo.
I get that. I think your goal is a great one.
I'm curious what the true difference is in cost of ownership between a $60k house and a >$100-150k house. Especially if the $60k home you have to pay cash for, while the more expensive home you drop $20-30k down and keep the rest invested where it will be making you money.
Between that and possibly depreciation (crazy for a double-wide), building quality differences, commute differences, etc. etc. its pretty easy to offset the difference in price between the two.
