Financially, housing is not my problem.
Quality of life, my housing is a problem. It's dark (no windows), wet (in the other end of the room, water comes in over the foundation during heavy rainstorms, condensation from water pipes pools around cardboard boxes), cold (bare concrete walls and floor), moldy (due to moisture + cardboard), not ventilated and just generally far too small for two people (15ft by 15ft). Likewise, moving would allow me to telecommute for my job. I am not able to do that now, due to the noise and disruption of 3-5 people living in the same apartment, depending on who else is renting. That would save me $40/mo in gas, and 32+mi/day wear and tear on the car.
The situation was supposed to be temporary - a few months, at the most. Instead, it's been 18+. I moved away from my mother to this situation, because my mother is in financial ruin and frequently tried to get my husband and I to pay her past due bills. She's my motivation to be frugal and keep it together. We won't be moving back there, unless our only other option is to be homeless.
It's completely accurate that home ownership mostly a want, and not entirely a need, but the stability of a better place to live would create a stronger launching pad for increasing my income, which is also very high on my list of priorities. Moving to a different apartment and putting first, last and deposit down would also drain a huge chunk of my savings and incur a much larger monthly liability than home ownership.
It seems to me that if I am going to be forced to move soon, within a year, then moving to something I own is more economical. If it's really not, please explain with numbers and in detail.
That being said, if the debt to income needs more income, a gross income of ~$48,800 can be presented instead by adding my husband to the application, but that would make the lowest FICO closer to mid 600s instead of low 700s, meaning a higher interest rate. Which is looks more attractive - more income, or better credit?
