You can be approved for much more than $190K. Key is to stay within reason. We are buying a house and financing $160K which is ~$1000 a month which includes taxes and insurance ($~300 combined). Interest rates are really low (3.25%) which is great for buyers. Get preapproved since it's free and then decide what you want to do. I need a house for 4 with room to grow and have extra space. It all depends on your future plans. I will say that a 2 story home is surprisingly more affordable for certain costs due to footage being smaller (termite treatment for example). I'm in the middle of the whole process but if you have questions you're welcome to pm me.