Looking at it a different way….
Old lending standards, rough estimates.
10% down
60k=225k purchase price
80k=275K purchase price
100-120k= 375K purchase
north of 120K= Pay cash
I am guestimating these things based on the memory of an old house payment calculator thingy that was new 10 years ago. I looked for it but can’t easily find it. It costs 40K a year to live modestly(read,get by) with a wife and a couple of kids now, before rent or mortgage, and it is getting more expensive by the minute! I don’t think 60K will mean anything in San Diego County for SFR unless you are a buddist munk with a penchant for a house in the ghetto.Roomates could help though,been there done that. I think 60K income is definitely Average Condo in Average Location even in the next trough of the cycle.
So if you are entertaining what I am saying at all try analyzing what 225k,275k or 375k might get you if your income is in those brackets and you don’t have a ton of cash. Of course, stretching is safer if you are steril.