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[quote=Anonymous]I would aim to buy a house the spring/summer before your eldest is going to start kindergarten so you can have stability for them in schools but a little more time (unless "under 5" means they are turning 5 this summer and starting K).  Before then, I would put some of your downpayment money to pay off your "other debt" if it's above 4% interest. Your debt load is what is going to limit your options.

If you are only out of law school for 5 years AND had two kids during that time, and the pandemic and student loan debt pauses--your life and your expenses are in a whirl.  You might not have a handle on what your expenses really are.  So take a little time and more intentionally sort that out.
If you think you can take on a 750k mortgage (seems tight but potentially doable ), start paying what the PITI  for that would be (look up estimates for property tax and insurance in the area you want to buy) that plus 1% of the total home cost as the estimated annual cost of home maintenance into your savings/accelerated debt repayment.  I would also at least open up 529 plans for your kids and put an autopay enough to get the state income tax break (if you have one) and tax-deferred savings.  I would also be contributing the max to your retirement account if you aren't already.  At your income you want to take advantage of all the tax breaks you can and you want to have a realistic sense of how tight things will be when you will be owning a house, responsible for taxes, insurance and maintenance, and be contributing appropriately to your future needs (college, retirement) and paying off your past purchases (student loan debt, car debt, other debt).[/quote]

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