[eggzz]

Bonanz, since you are young, it is very likely that you wont be in this house/condo 5-7 years from now. You will have amassed more wealth (hopefully) and it will be time to buy something bigger and nicer.

I strongly urge you consider a five or seven year adjustable rate mortgage. I bought my second home 1.5 years ago and have a 4% interest rate.

This will enable you to either have a much lower mortgage payment, or will allow you to pay down more principal over time. You are locked in at that rate for the 5 or 7 years. That is my only regret from the first home I bought, when I did a conventional 30 year fixed. There was no way I was going to stay in my first home for more than 5-7 years, it was a starter, but I was naive to the other types of lending that was available.

I think you need pretty good credit, because this type of loan usually doesn't get sold and resold.

Plus, we are gamblers, and its a good way to take even more advantage of low interest rates. Even if rates are like 10% five years from now (which I highly doubt), you may want to purchase something else irregardless, so you are better off going this way.

Good luck whatever you decide (I would not go the condo route, you get eaten up by maintenance fees, and are at the liberty of management rules just like apartment living) I never really got into the thought process of "owning" a condo.