...and you thought Tysons had traffic now.

[Evan]

Note I said conservative and $550k is anything but. See above. There's a distinct difference between what you can rent and buy for the same cash outlay (obviously). If you absolutely must have xyz in your house and that's $550k then yes, renting is the obvious choice. I'm just talking about buying you first home for the sake of getting into the market. First homes usually aren't everything you want.

To RJ's point... the problem is you're thinking about buying an equivalent to renting. That's never going to work unless you can lay an assload of cash down.

The reality of my situation is that I need a garage and lots of parking, so anything less isnt really even on the table. And low living costs free up cash that I can do dumb shit with.
I agree with you though, I really wish I got into the market back in 2001/2002 shortly after I graduated. Hindsight is 20/20, but at the time I had no money and no help from parents so it just didnt work.
I guess I could give up racing, probably not a bad idea anyway. But I still dont think Ill buy anything until the market starts back up.