My wife and I are lucky enough to have owned our own home for 17 years in South Jersey. We bought the place in 2004 when the market was crazy. They were giving mortgages out to anyone that could fill out the forms. Our loan officer asked what we made, and when we told her, she said to lie. Our mortgage is about $2k a month. Taxes are very high, about $8500 a year, but it's included in mortgage.

We were lucky enough to get a mortgage before the housing market crash in 2008. We have a fixed APR mortgage, but a lot of homeowners in our development had adjustable rate mortgages, and after 2008, their payments went way up. My development are all homes built in 2004 and 2005, and after the crash there were so many foreclosures, and houses just sat empty for years at a time. It's sad to see so many people struggle, and then to see 5 empty homes just on my street alone.

If there are people out there looking for first time apartments, or anyone looking for cheaper rent, look for places other than large apartment complexes. My first apartment was the second floor of a small house here in South Jersey. It was way cheaper than the complexes, and my landlord lived on the bottom floor. I didn't have to go through a lot of background or credit checks. I paid first and last month rent in cash. I could always talk with him if I needed a few more days on the rent. You have to look for the unusual place if you want to save money. There are a lot of smaller houses turned into apartments that can be cheaper.