I agree with the advice not to rush into anything, but I also agree that if you can afford to buy and are qualified by a mortgage broker/bank, then the earlier you buy the better if you're in an area that is going up, up, up year after year. I suppose if you were in an area where prices are fairly stable and low to begin with, it wouldn't be much of an issue to wait a year or two, maybe longer. I know for my own situation, had DH and I waited to buy (and we were both teachers when we bought, FWIW), we would have been priced out of our area within a year, two max.
The bottom line for us was we knew what we could afford including all those extras (insurance, taxes, upkeep, utilities, etc.) and when we were in negotiations for this house, we stuck to what we could afford. We bought a home in an area we knew we wouldn't want to leave right away, so we don't have to worry about trading up or anything like that.
Good luck! Buying a home is scary and fun all at the same time.
