There is a lot of people that move back and forth between SD and DC. As one of the many, I can tell you that the SD traffic can hold its place among the worst of them, depending on were you live. If you live in CV you should be pretty safe getting to LJ. One good thing about waiting some time before buying is that it will give you time to make sure the relo is going to work out. SD is not DC on the job front, you are not going to leave if things go south and walk down the street and get a position paying 10% more. You don’t want to have to sell anything there for the next 3 years that you have bought now in order to move back.