Make sure it's a blessing, baby ... not a curse. That's what Dave Ramsey would say when you buy a house. Wait until you're out of debt and have 3-6 months of expenses stashed away in an emergency fund. But the way the newsboys report about the housing market, you'd think it was more about the curse than the blessing.

The AP wire ran a doom-and-gloom story (surprised?) about the housing market today. Check out these Chicken Little numbers ... 25% of the people polled think their home is gonna lose value over the next 2 years. Even more, 1 in 7 think they won't be able to make their house payments on time between now and October. About 60% of the joes and jills out there who are wanting to buy some digs are gonna wait until the housing market shapes up before they go for it.

Being able to afford a house ain't up to the market, jack ... it's up to you. Sure, the market goes up and down, but even if someone offers you a $300,000 house for half that, you got no business buying if you can't afford a 150k house. Deals ain't deals if they break you like a dry twig.

When it's time to hang your hat somewhere, do it right. I'll make this short and sweet. Out of debt. Full emergency fund. 20% down, minimum. Payments no more than 25% of your take home. 15 year. Fixed. Capiche?