I was in a similar boat a year ago. The housing market has boomed so much since the advent of this pandemic that it's likely that the prices for homes will only increase from here. The news reported these things, which made it nearly impossible for low earners or people living on fixed incomes to purchase homes (unless the homes require a lot of fixes or come with severe problems).

I wanted to use my VA home loan, and I was preapproved for a decent amount - until the housing market increased to the point where my decent amount turned into a poverty number. I can't afford a place unless it's in a bad neighborhood or unless the home is in need of major fixes. Also, I'm a minority, and there's been an uptick in discrimination and hate crimes and harassment for certain minorities purchasing homes.

The other issue with going from an apartment lifestyle to a condo or house lifestyle is that you're now responsible for all the repairs, homeowner's insurance, security, landscaping, shoveling of snow, making sure wasps and other creepy crawlers don't create nests where passerby and neighbors could potentially sue you for negligence on your home, etc. You are also likely to pay more for utilities, and have to pay for things like a washer, dryer, your own kitchen appliances, certain plumbing, certain water types (whether it be well water or City water), water filters, air filters, and more. You'd have to learn basic safety needs to maintain your home without accidentally causing an electrical fire, gas explosion, or any poisoning from running your vehicle in a locked garage. You'd have to have a savings account for incidentals, such as if you are in a flood zone or earthquake zone or tornado zone, and will likely need additional homeowner's insurance as well as extra funds for such emergencies. If a tree falls down on your roof and destroys your roof, your garage, your appliances in your garage, and your vehicle, will your homeowner's insurance cover that? Will your vehicular insurance also cover the damages to your vehicle, if you own the home? You'd have to look into all of these things when purchasing a home. You wouldn't have to look as much into things when you are renting, because the owner is responsible for everything.

As I see it now, I feel more free being a renter paying more than I would being bogged down in a home that is overly inflated in costs, possibly on its way to being a victim of natural disasters (due to climate change ignorance and ongoing problems with things like wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, sinkholes, and more). Also, there's some strange moon thingy that will happen in the near future, so that will affect the Earth and its natural disasters as well. If you are a renter, you could pack up and move whenever your place becomes uninhabitable via natural disaster damages (you can still get renter's insurance), and you can also move whenever your lease is up. You can enjoy the freedom of decorating and redecorating each time you move. You can learn new cultures and new things. You can discover more of what you love and what you don't.

Who knows what the future will bring? It might be more lucrative to wait for another 10 to 20 years to purchase a home, since times are really crazy right now.