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[quote=Anonymous]We're both 32, 2 kids, happened to meet in college and marry right after we graduated, which I get is probably somewhat rare in this area.  Parents paid for grad school (we had loans from undergrad), so I feel lucky for that.

With that said, we both got jobs after college, selected a cheap apartment near one of our jobs in DC.  We also valued being the city, raising our kids in a more urban area, and public transportation.  Was not willing to move out to the burbs, and still are not to a degree.  Saved like crazy.

Bought a cheap condo in a good rental area (right by a Metro).  Was a not-so-great area when we bought it, but it was inexpensive and we had heard rumblings about development there because of it's proximity to the Metro and the Capitol.  Saved like crazy.  Had one kid.  Stayed in tiny crappy condo.  Had second kid.  Stayed in tiny crappy condo for another year, during which we lowered our 401K savings to the minimum required for matching and saved that too.

Purchased ugly but relatively updated brick 1,400 square foot house that most DCUM-ers would never live in in downtown Silver Spring - we were not willing to go totally suburban, wanted an area where we would send our kids to elementary at least, wanted three bedrooms but didn't need big or new.  Got a 30-year mortgage with the intent of refinancing to a 15-year in a few years because we thought our incomes might go up.

They did, refinanced.  Husband got a job in SS, I commute on the Metro to DC.  We feel like we are exactly where we want to be.

Things we didn't compromise on:  being in the city or in an otherwise not-suburban area, refused to have more than one car so commutes had to work, needed elementary school in our final home, couldn't take on a fixer upper.

Things we did "compromise" on (though these are things we don't care about anyway): smaller, older house, more mortgage than we thought we'd be comfortable with (it's worked out fine)

So based on our experience, I would recommend the following if you are truly interested in owning a home and your jobs are staying where they are:

1.  Find out where the rental markets are in Fairfax and buy a townhome there at below your budget.  Think of it in terms of what YOU would want to rent - usually access to public transportation, not huge, updated or at least easy to update yourselves.  Stay put for a few years and make it work.  if you have a second kid, you will have no time to think about anything else anyway, so just focus on that.  Save everything you can.

2.  After you come out of that phase and the second kid is about a year or so old and your first kid is starting K soon, re-evaluate your budget and your job situations and stretch just a bit to buy your next-10-years home.  You don't need fancy or big - you need liveable, has a good elementary school, and something that aligns with your priorities.  Try your absolute best to keep your rental property.  [/quote]

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