re: Where to buy first home in BR area?

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Let me give you a little contra advice. Do not buy a house anywhere until you can put down 30+% down on it. 50% would be better. That might be 4 or 5 years from now for you--I don't know but do not wrap a mortgage around your neck until you decide on your family size and career. Leave yourself some flexibility. You are going to have career opportunities and I hope you have 5 or 6 kids :)--either way you will want to trade houses. I know everybody says you are throwing away rent but ask people in Florida now or people who had to sell homes in Louisiana or Texas in the late eighties just how bad it can be for home owners. Perhaps at your age and with your fixer up ability you might want to buy a duplex or a four plex and live in unit and rent the rest for a couple of years.

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I appreciate your advise. My wife and I have set up our entire financials based on one income. When we got married, we chose to pay off $40k in debt as opposed to getting a house. I owned a business and worked with real estate investors through the 2000's. Although I have never personally been signed on a mortgage, I have been around real estate for a few years. I know putting 30% might be better right now, but so is 100% cash. At some point, my wife and I has to take a chance on leverage and financing. If we didn't, we'd have money, yes, but we would be kid-less at 35+ years old. We both have looked long and hard, and agree that the time is right.