<prompt> Human: I hope that Im not repeating the same question that several other redditors have asked. I apologize if I am.My partner and I are both planning on going back to graduate school next fall, her in a 4 year program, me in a 2 year program that might lead to a PhD or DPT degree with additional years after. Our two programs are 2.5 hours apart and weve resigned that well be living separately and seeing each other on weekends and doing a lot of FaceTime-ing. Her school has a lot of potential for scholarships and other options of her getting schooling paid for. I, on the other hand, will be taking out financial aid and the total cost of the program for 2 yrs will be near 17k.Weve been looking into the option of purchasing a home in one of our two locations. Weve met with a financial planner who said we have enough saved up to do it, if we wanted to take the plunge. Im hoping that, if we purchased, our total housing cost renting in one city, mortgage payments in other, would be less that 800month. So by looked at mortgage calculators mortgage utilities PMI taxes HOA insurance repairsmaintenance vs rent and applicable utilities, I figured out that we could afford a home that costs 100k or less.There are many options in both cities, though her city has much lower property taxes and she would be there for 4 years, so Im leaning towards purchasing there, if we decide to do this. As for income while in school, Im hoping that Ill be offered a graduate assistantship which will provide a nice monthly stipend near 900month, I think. My partner is also in the process of becoming an Army Reserve chaplain, so will get a small monthly stipend from that, though we dont know when that would start. Regardless of any potential income, wed be paying the same amount in rent as the calculated mortgage property taxesrepairsHOAetc. We have just over 25k saved and would be taking advantage of the first homeowner loans to put down a lower down payment, so we wont wipe out our savings completely. Can anyone provide any areas that Im not thinking about or opinions on whether you think this is a smart decision? I just want to make sure that I have thought of everything before we make such a big commitment. I appreciate any help you all can provide. Thanks all!edits: a few clarifications  <response>: Best advice I can give you: dont make decisions based on money you dont have yet. 