If you have any type of craftsman skills, you can do a fairly inexpensive "remodel" if you find an older house or crappy your house that doesn't have a ton of problems. After My experience last summer we just started updating our 1965 modular home. New floors, New kitchen cabinets, paint, trim, for about $2500. It's definitely not ideal, but when you purchase all you're doing is building equity for the future.