The Big Catch 22
Right now, things are kind of tough. Currently living off of one income, my wife and I are renting in a fairly shitty part of town. The rent is manageable, but just manageable. We are both depressed and we both want our own place. She would also like to go back to school and study to earn more money in the future, while I do not wish to re-join the conventional workforce. I am sure some may say that that seems lazy, and they may be right. But I was very jaded by my previous job, and the fields I can get a job in, do not really pay too well, and have very little in the way of providing a life times worth of work. I would really enjoy going into buisness for myself, maybe do some radio install work, or emergency response installs, or even remote data storage / backup systems support, or even something as simple as website design. The problem with this is that in order to venture down this path, I would need a base of operations.
The housing market being so cheap these days, you can find houses with garages on an acre or two of land, within commuting distance from the city, for well under 100,000. Some even as low as 50,000. Which works out to 300 dollars a month, which is much less then we pay in rent. I somehow do not think these deals will last, and when the housing market picks up again in a year or so, a deal like this will be unheard of. While sure, it is risky buying a home... You have to worry about insurance, taxes, utilities and maintnance. But we would likely be able to pull it off with that budget, and still having only one income. While with 2 incomes, it would be even better. But there is a lot of hesitation. It seems that I should get a job first, doing something I dislike, then save up money and then buy a house. I however really wonder if that is smart in the long run. If in a year or two, or three, by the time it takes us to save up enough money, what if housing prices have gone up back to what they were 8 years ago?
We would be paying a lot more, using a lot more of our income to pay a mortgage, then we would of if we had jumpped and gotten a house when it was cheap. The thing about 300 a month for mortgage, is that you could even pay that if you were living off of welfare. It might not be comfy, but you would have a roof over your head. Perhaps I am being too rash about this, and maybe I am jumping the gun, But I really think that the chance to save money is now... And I would really hate it to be an 'I told you so case'. Many young couples are buying homes now, for under 100,000... and some of them are managing off of one income, why couldn't we? Just my little rant.