Lyn I am your age and yes we have 2 Condos(1 in India, 1 in Norway). But I didn't do it alone. The rates were so crazy in India that we moved to Norway to repay the loan (At least that's my story and I am sticking to it ;)).

I am not sure,I would jump into buying a house in your situation . As you know things are tough the first few months. If you are already at the danger end of your investment when you jump into buying a home, then it doesn't make sense does it?

So why not wait it out for couple of years?

I like the idea f buying few stuff for the current house. These things donot need to be thrown out when you move to your own space :).
Btw I was drooling over the pillow just yesterday. Hubby pointed out that we donot need more pillows in our home.

Please, please, buy furniture. TWO chairs. A table. A TV stand!
You can even go wild and buy a couch. : )
(Yes, even if your boyfriend already has one. You just sell one of them or use it in a study or office.)

Ooh, I love the cozy little seating area you are conjuring up!

I agree with Mo! I'd also make getting some furniture a priority. It doesn't have to be expensive but it will make a big difference. And I agree with what some others said about waiting and saving up. Lots of good arguments here. And personally I find 900 sqft plenty big enough even with one or two children. It all depends on how much redundant stuff you have and if you have a good floorplan. When I was a child we lived in similar sized flats with four to five people without any problem, with my brother later sharing his room with my sister. And who knows if you really ever need more space? And when you think long term you won't need that much space later on. My mum already talked of selling the house and building a small bungalow when my parents go into retirement (assuming none of us children want to move in with them). Because she's right, the house was good for eight people living in it, but two people? They'd get lost.

I haven't read all the responses thoroughly but I agree with Liz and IK. No need to rush anything, especially considering how wacky the housing market has proven to be over the last decade or so.

I pondered buying a home a few times over the years. I came really close when I was in my mid 30s and got quite serious about a really cute end-of-group townhouse in Baltimore, but something made me pull back. Instead, I ended up moving into my parents' tiny beach house, which had been mostly sitting unused since my father's death some years prior. I lived there rent-free, fixing things up along the way -- by the time my now-husband and I moved out, the house had new windows and doors, new kitchen, new water heater, new washer and dryer, new insulation in the attic, new well, new heat pump, new carpet and tile, new bathroom... whew! But this allowed my mom to rent the house out for income after we moved out, and now that my mom has passed away, my sister and I rent it out.

But all that aside, the point I was getting to is that I didn't buy my first home until I was 41. It turned out to be a good choice for me (and my husband). We saved money for a long while and were able to buy pretty much our "dream home." Even though we bought it at what turned out to be the peak of the market (ouch), we have no real regrets since we found the house we want to stay in for 20 years or more.

I come from a family of real estate people. My mom, dad, sister and I all worked in real estate at one time or another. My mom was really smart about this stuff. Every time we moved out of one home to another, we kept the old house and rented it out. Because of this, my mom was able to collect some decent supplemental income in her later years, and then pass along four houses -- something with significant value -- to my sister and me. I will always be grateful for the things I learned from her and my dad.

Times have changed. Young people fresh on their first jobs used to be able to afford to purchase a decent house in a livable neighborhood. That time is gone, but I hope it changes back someday. In the meantime, I think it's wise to take your time and carefully weigh all the options when it comes to home ownership vs. renting.

Lyn, I am going along with the crowd in saying: buy some furniture.

But what Carter said about the condo is true here too. In a couple years your Ikea furniture will look shabby and you'll say, I can't invite my colleagues over to sit on this cheap crap, I need a real couch. So why not buy the real furniture now? Buy something you love, and then you'll happily find a place for it in your house.

Of course there is a big difference from the situation Carter described too - that if you throw all the Ikea stuff out in a year you'll only have wasted a couple hundred bucks, which really doesn't matter. But still - you can afford something better than Ikea, give yourself permission to buy what you really want.

I don't want to sound like I'm hating on Ikea. At their price point, the design and quality are generally excellent. And we still have some bits of Ikea floating around the house, like the grundtal hardware I'm very fond of. I just wanted to say that furniture buying is a place where getting what's cheapest is often a false economy.

Cinnamon fern, I agree with you about Ikea, to a certain degree. I think it all depends on what kind of stuff you buy there. I'd personally buy a couch or armchair elsewhere if I had the money for example. And get a great quality rug and some solid woof furniture. But I think an inexpensive tv stand, some pillows, curtains or lighting can go a long way and because you don't expect to keep them for a decade they can be Ikea.

Buy a nice couch, and a nice mattress (if you don't have one already). Everything else Ikea is fine for.

I lived for 7 years post-schooling with a futon, a desk, a chair, a filing cabinet that doubled as a tv-stand, a nightstand from a craft store and a mattress+bedframe. I assumed that when I got married/bought a place, I'd buy nice furniture.

Meanwhile future husband (then boyfriend) bought a couch and dining table as soon as he graduated. When we moved in together, I had to live with a couch I loathed with the fire of a thousand suns. When we needed to buy more furniture, we bought ikea malm because we were transient.

We bought a small place in 2013 (10 year mark) and we know it won't last us more than 5-10 years. We are finally starting to purchase long term, nice furniture and we'll take it to our next place, whenever that may happen.

I had major home buying fever between the between 2007-2010, but couldn't buy because I was transient. Between 2011-2012, I was actively against buying because I'd realized renting was cheaper. What pushed me back to the buying side was wanting to live in a place that was set up according to my needs + the stability of not needing to move, and I was willing to pay the premium for it.

But to address your life

Please keep your money separate from the family. Don't let family even know how much money you have/where it is.

Buy some new furniture!! There is no point in waiting for a house/partner and you don't want to be stuck with your partner's choice in furniture. Buy yourself one nice piece every year.

Buying a place doesn't necessarily save you money. Buy when it's comfortable financially and you feel that having your own place enhances your quality of life.

Thank you everyone for your wisdom and your own stories - I guess life has really changed; my dad working an office job on his own was able to afford a condo when he graduated - and he was only 32.

I have mostly Ikea furniture, but I buy the higher end stuff and I really like it - I do have the $9 end table, but it's held up nicely over the last five years or so - I suppose we don't really put the end table through too much!

My study desk is also an Ikea purchase, but wasn't the $23 desk that the boy has that is falling apart, I think mine was about $200. My mattress is also one of the higher end Ikea ones - it's hypoallergenic and quite wonderful. It is the first bed I have ever had; I decided that sleeping in a nest of blankets is probably not appropriate for a doctor - and my dad agreed.

The wing chair I like is also Ikea, but about $230 - I like the idea of a pair of wing chairs too; but maybe I'll get a different pillow for the "guest chair". No one gets to sit in my chair and mess up my bum imprint

I agree that there's a big difference between lower and higher priced Ikea stuff. My Ikea desk is now maybe 8 years old - it was a 200€ piece and it's still in a great condition and very sturdy. I really like it.

Before you buy furniture, how about going to some places other than IKEA to sit on and check out other furniture? Check out both high end and warehouse style places so you get a feel for the range. I'm wondering if it's possible that IKEA seems like the only "permissible" place to get furniture because that's what so many students/young grads do.

Like Sylvie, I fell into the "it's my first place, I'll just make do for now" pit with my furniture. Some of it, I'm still living with, too many years later.

There's actually quite a lack of furniture places here that aren't super high end - like $300 lamps - vs. lower end options that don't look like they fell off the back end of a truck.

I also like Ikea because I have no patience. If I want something, I want it now :p

My friend scored a beautiful set of leather couches from a resident who was moving out; but I think those are pretty rare finds.

You don't need 25%. Also, there's a huge shortage of Canadian-trained doctors, right? You're not as vulnerable to job loss as most. You're a good bet for a mortgage and will be able to pay it off quickly if you want to.
Is real estate even as inflated in your market as Toronto, Vancouver etc?

Real estate is actually not bad here - you can get a pretty reasonable condo for 300K. Rent is about $1500 a month for a one bedroom

I think you're going to be just fine, once you're ready
I got my own place a few months after meeting DH and then left it to move in with him just over a year later. I didn't have my place fully furnished/decorated, but I did get a few cute things. I'm really glad I had a place that was just mine and was able to choose colours etc. Even incomplete it was cute and very me. Once living together everything has to be a joint decision (unless your partner lets you take the lead on that front, some do), so I suggest enjoying the fact you do have your own space while it lasts. Ikea is a good price point for this and I love your ideas so far