Q: I would like to buy a home but my credit is bad and I’m on a fixed income. The house I would like to buy costs about $800,000. What do you suggest? Should I be considering an $800,000 house?

A: It would be great if everyone could afford to buy an expensive house.

You can’t buy a house that you cannot afford, and this sounds like it’s out of reach for you if you’re truly on a limited, fixed income.

With bad credit, you’ll pay an exceedingly high interest rate. I think you should look for something that is more in your price range and I’d also advise working on improving your credit history and credit score so that you have more financing options available to you.