mmbuyer as an engineer I would echo all of the previous posts… unless you have ton of stock that is actually worth something it will be quite difficult to stretch yourself into a million dollar neighborhood. Better to live with your wife and have her snipe at you for not purchasing the home, then lay in bed at night praying you do not get laid off because every penny you have goes to the mortgage. Try to reason with your wife and show her the numbers of how much it would cost to live in a million dollar neighborhood with only 200k down and only 100k or 150k salary. Don’t forget taxes, mello roos (if applicable) insurance and hoa (if applicable). I think the poster (robyns song) that advised you to rent in that million dollar neighborhood made very good sense.