I'll share a bit on my situation right here

I bought my first property at 20 y/o for my family. A 220k terrace house. High DP from my offshore work and low loan pymt monthly. That time got free S&P and legal fees. Bad move at that time coz it was for family stay and a big chunk of money went there.

Bought my 2nd property at 22 y/o. Didn't earn much from rental coz I stayed there as well. So I sold it off and earn some cash. Then struggled to save up some cash and buy a 2nd hand at 80k (I was 24), it's a 3 bedroom apartment. I stayed at the master room and rent out the rest. Both the rooms can cover the installment plus cover the maintenance

Basically what I was trying to say is, when you realized you cannot afford to buy a family house.. start getting a place where you can rent out some rooms to cover your monthly installment.

I did a mistake by buying a family house first. It's tough to save money while you're in such a big commitment. But to share or not to share, it's what you've gotta discuss with your future wifey.

Else, combine income?

Erm, the first home is still for family. I moved out.

Yup, lower end properties might be good for a bachelor. But he said he wanna share with his future wifey, so, a middle range can be ok also. The thing is, with an income of less than 2k I guess the best you can do to get a loan is to combine your future wifey's income (which is not really recommended). Then, buy a property with at least 2 more rooms to rent out.

Home loan last for 30 years, are you sure your partner is the one you wanna marry or not

P/S: I'm currently not touching my family home so now I'm doing all the flipping using the place that I'm staying. So, I move a lot