Just starting - Need Your Thoughts

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Hey,

I just graduated college about 1.5 years ago. My trade is engineering but I found that my situation within the past 1.5 year has not changed at all. I have about 60K in school loans, I bought a new car in January with car payments, and I have all the regular bills as does anyone else like cell phone bill, car insurance, cable/internet bill...that kind of stuff..and I live at home with my parents.

So I have been really really looking into real estate the past couple of months. My credit score is about a 680 last time I checked.

I have been asking people I know so many questions about real estate but they are not gurus. For instance, someone told me I should get my credit score above a 700. How do I do that? I already have direct payments coming out of my account. I dont know what else I can do. I have no credit cards just a check card. I built my credit up by being a co-signer for a leased car with my mom while I was in college.

Now I want to go on my own. I was looking to buy a place with my friend. And yes I know of the consequences, but I just don't have enough money. I was thinking about getting a 200K mortgage with 0 down for a house..(is this even possible?) ....

I am from the suburbs on Philadelphia. If anyone has any ideas or anything, all comments are welcomed.