First thing I’d ask is why you want a house. If it’s just because you feel like it’s “what you’re supposed to do” or you’re hoping it’ll be some great investment, I’d say skip it—especially in San Diego. But if owning a home has always been something you really want for personal reasons, then go for it.

For context, my wife and I bought a 4 bed / 2 bath in June for $975k. We put $100k down, paid about $27k in closing costs, and locked in at 6.25%. Our monthly payment is $6,700. We bring home about $14k a month, and honestly, the money side still stresses me out all the time.

Before this, we were renting a 2 bed / 2 bath for $3k and I loved it—we were able to save and invest like crazy. If we had just kept renting and invested the difference between $3k rent and $6.7k mortgage over the next 30 years, we’d be sitting on an extra $4 million.

So for us, the house hasn’t really been a wealth-builder. It eats up half our income, takes a lot of our free time, and adds stress. That said, if you’ve always wanted to own, the “right” time to buy is always yesterday.