That's awesome :) Good luck with your reno. I had some family members who were wanting to get a mortgage, they were currently stuck renting, but made decent income. Hard workers, their income was increasing over the years, but there net worth was still negative. As their income increased, they just spent more, and they always spent slightly more than they had. Anyways, they came into a chunk of money all at once (small inheritence), and came to me for some advice since they wanted to use it towards a home. We went over everything in Excel. They could absolutely qualify for a mortgage, they just needed to clear a bit of bad debt (credit card), and put aside a bit more for a downpayment, they were really close to having enough. We looked at their assets, and they had a few things that were barely used and could have been liquidated to clear the credit card debt and get enough for the downpayment (a 3rd car they didn't need, some collector items collecting dust). I didn't tell them, but I probably would have helped them out with the difference if I saw them really pushing for it. BUT they didn't want to sacrifice anything for it, and wouldn't reduce their spending or sell any of the assets. So the opportunity was lost. That was a few years ago now, they still have the credit card debt, they've spent the entire chunk of money on nothing substantial, and their net worth is still negative. Home prices have gone up at least 33% since then. A different family member, but similar story, came into some money all at once. In this case it was due to a disability back payment. It was enough that they could have gotten something modest, and they started looking. Now while there was plenty of options available in the lower price bracket, they were too good for any of these options and wanted something much more expensive. There was always a reason why each property they could afford wouldn't work. Fast forward to today, the settlement is completely spent, they have nothing to show for it and are still in the apartment.