re: In the market for a house...

OP, there are no laws that say get married, buy an expensive house, have kids, and join the rat race as soon as possible.

Not to mention all the crap your wife will want to buy to fill the house that will be thousands of dollars. New furniture, lawn equipment, appliances. Closing costs. Home ownership really sucks IMO. I’d honestly rather rent sometimes

We didn’t buy a home until 7 years after marriage and even 2 kids. Kept renting because we weren’t sure we would stay on east coast. I would take your time and even wait til you decide to have kids so you can see how much daycare will be, how much house you need vs want, and what you can really afford. Keep saving your arse off and put down as much as you can on the house. Unless y’all have some kind of trust or parents helping y’all then that’s another story.