This is a really good question and there are a couple of things to consider here. First, I think the minimum range for credit scores to secure a loan is around 620-630. If you are not at that, then you will want to work on your credit before buying a home.

If you do have that credit score and can buy a home, you have to look at how much you can reasonably and realistically put towards your mortgage payments tos ee if you can buy a home at this time. hot pads has a good search that I used when I was looking called "buy vs rent" Just click the buy vs rent tab when you are searching and you can see homes for sale and rental homes at the same time.

You do not have to have 30-40% down. If you have a 680 or better you can get a traditional loan with 5% down. If you have a 640 or higher you can get a loan through FHA with 3.5% down at 4% interest. There are other rural development programs out there that will finance you with zero down, but may have higher interest. There are stipulations on the FHA loans that you may want to look at first before applying for one. Go through a regular bank though or else you will pay very high closing cost, especially if you go through Quicken.

if you have cash in the bank and walk up and put 30-40% down, and your credit isnt horrible, they may just take it