How cheap is the cheapest home for sale in your city/region?
In Utah County the cheapest "House" for sale is 600 square feet, 2 bed, 1 bath, at $300k.
So at current interest rate it would be $1,800 a month mortgage(assuming you put the 60k down payment! A decent amount more if you do 3% down.)
The cheapest condo/town in utah valley is 205k, 1,100 square feet, on a 400 square foot lot. But due to a $500 HOA fee the monthly cost is still 1,700 a month (assuming 20% down).
With 3.5% down they'd both be closer to 2.1k +PIMI.
I'm in Ashburn, VA. I just looked at Zillow and saw that the cheapest single family home right now is $625k for 2060 sqft. If you have a credit score >719 and put $100k (~16%) down, it's only $4438/month according to their estimates.
So my wife and I live in an apartment with no kids or pets, and we both work a lot... Maybe one day we can afford a townhouse? I just found a decent looking one that's only $450k so $3200/month...