I just bought my first house for $145,000.
Previously, I was renting an apartment by myself for $782/month.
I now pay $680/month (includes principal, interest @ 4.6%, taxes, & insurance). I also now have a roommate paying me $300/month.
In effect, I am now saving ~$400/month over what I was doing. To my way of thinking, this amounts to a 1.25% per month return on my $32,000 down payment, or 15% annually. Actually, better because I'm building equity as well.
This seems too good to be true. Am I missing something? At first I was wary of pulling that $32,000 out of investments, but looking at it this way, it was definitely the thing to do.