[Silverbullet]

To future home buyers-
Look at how much resources you put into a car (both money, and time doing research, fixing/ect) over a course of a year. You probably could have bought a house. Not all houses are 500k. Ever since I put the car stuff on pause a couple years ago, I've gotten into real estate investing. All of my houses are under $110k and generate profit at a high performance IMO.

Most major markets (DC, NY, LA, Bay, ect) are over inflated again, however in secondary and below markets, there are still an abundance of decent priced foreclosures.

Also, there is more than one way to buy a house. You dont need to get a mortgage through a bank. You don't need an agent taking a cut. Some of the great investors out there got their start with no "real" job or much money at all. When you deal with a sale-by-owner, the two parties can get creative with financing methods.

My first house i bought on the internet through an auction about a year out of college without an agent. I had no idea what I was doing, I just winged it honestly. At the same time I bought a retired east coast drift car, and a new truck. I only needed a couple thousand for the house. Hind-sight it was stupid to buy the truck and drift car, but I wanted to make a point that you really don't need a whole lot of money to do it, and you can get creative with it.

Another point I want to throw out there, do you really need a house? Is owning a home of your own something you really want to do, or is it something someone else told you is a good thing to do? Depending on the market you live in, it is cheaper to rent. That depends on your lifestyle as well. Despite the fact that I own houses, my designed lifestyle is better suited towards renting.