Anonymous wrote:We wanted to be able to live on one income. We both work, but as of right now, neither of us is collecting a paycheck (both feds). The smaller mortgage feels much better. All the extra money is for the fun stuff. I'd rather have experiences than a mcmansion.

I'll also add, we have good Fairfax County schools.

We wanted to be able to live on one income. We both work, but as of right now, neither of us is collecting a paycheck (both feds). The smaller mortgage feels much better. All the extra money is for the fun stuff. I'd rather have experiences than a mcmansion.

I'd figure out how much your combined income would be if one of you took a pay cut for some reason. Then punch that number into CNN Money's "How Much Home Can You Afford" tool. Take the result and punch it into Redfin.com. Poke around a bit and see if you find any houses in that range you could be happy with. If so, buy in that range. If not, re-assess regarding whether you want to be more aggressive.

Would you buy a house based on incomes of both spouses or of one spouse? Given the uncertainty of jobs and how expensive housing is, we wonder if it's better to go for a smaller house with a good school district rather than a larger house where both of us will be under pressure to work off longer years to pay off the mortgage loan. How do you strategize?