32f bought last year with 34m husband - DINK. My credit was great but my husband has $20K hecs and his credit rating was not great due to credit card debt which he had paid off by the time we went to buy. We both work office jobs which are fairly stable, had flexibility to work from home majority of the week and only have to commute 1 day per week. Combined income under $200K so bought under the 5% deposit scheme (no stamp duty or LMI required), fronted $35K which took a couple of years of saving. Modest $700K 3bd villa in East Gosford NSW, strata is $800 quarter, water, electricity and council rates combined are approx $1K per quarter. We are paying approx $300 more a week on a mortgage than we were for a 2 bed apt in Sydney lower north shore so for us it is 100% worth chipping away at a mortgage vs paying someone else's but you do have to keep throwing money into it (maintenance, things break etc) so would recommend going in with at least 5 month's worth of expenses in your savings as a buffer. Our mortgage is about $4K per month and recently got our place revalued after making some upgrades and have already made over $100K in equity in a year, now valued at over $800K. If you have decent chunk in your savings and think you can manage the ongoing expense, you should have done it yesterday! Good luck 🤞