It's expensive yes, but moreso home prices are accelerating. We have been saving for a home, but prices go up faster than the rate our down payment fund was, an

It's expensive yes, but moreso home prices are accelerating. We have been saving for a home, but prices go up faster than the rate our down payment fund was, and we'd still probably be looking at something in deep Georgetown, most of an hour's drive from the city in a brand new development in what used to be cow pasture, with nothing to walk to and no trees taller than us. Also, all our friends were similarly scattered around the metro so it was difficult to ever see them anyway. Instead we're closing next week on a beautiful cape cod in a nice neighborhood that we could pay cash for if we wanted (we're still taking a mortgage for other reasons but strictly wouldn't need to). Our children can walk to school, we have friends and family nearby, and generally we can just live without constant worry about the housing market because the majority of our wealth is not tied up in a pile of sticks and drywall that we bought for the equivalent of ten years' wages.