Q: We’re trying to buy a single-family house, but our loan officer said our debt-to-income ratio was too high. So they suggested we buy a condo. However, we have three generations in our household, so what we really need is a house. My father-in-law, who is very active, lives with us. On top of that, our eldest child moved back home after college. We’re looking for our living arrangements to be more relaxed with extra square footage or additional bedrooms.
Should we wait for Bay Area home prices to drop further? Or, as our current loan officer suggested, should we pay off our car loan and credit card debt ($13,000)