Originally Posted by Unregistered

It depends. If we just talk about affordability (not going into whether it is a good time to buy now), I will advise that you should ensure that after paying the downpayment (20%) and some renovation, you should still have the following

1) At least 6-12 months of contingency funds set aside to pay for daily expenses in case both of you lose your source of income

2) > 2 years worth of monthly repayment set aside in liquid asset ($72K if monthly is $3K)which should gives you decent return of 1-4% depending on what is it.

3) Able to service the monthly loan and save every month even if interest rate were to increase from current 1% to 3%.

4) If you still have excess savings, then invest wisely. You should be able to get at least 3-4% return in safe assets.....do not use all your savings to pay down the loan. You should take advantage of the low interest rate now