[opportune]

That is completely fair, and it makes a lot of sense if you have that longer term mindset.

I think that for the amount of property I could afford now, I would probably want to trade up for a larger property after about 5-15 years once I have kids. Or I might take a job in NYC around then as well. So my outlook is a bit more short term, and the flexibility of renting carries a bit of a premium.

The benefit of your approach is that you will probably weather any short term decrease in market value of your property and make up for it over time. That definitely works if you are willing to really commit to an area for a long time