I'm thinking about leaving NYC and heading back to Dallas for a while. I want to travel internationally for up to a month at a time and feel like I'm wasting money on taxes/high rent living in NYC.

I don't want to spend more than $450k on a home right now as I plan on getting a much larger one within five years. This would get me a new construction place in Dallas.

In Texas, nice apartments run a mere $1.5-$2k/month, whereas a mortgage on a $450k home would likely be $3k.

Would it be smarter to get that home, live in it for a while, and then rent it out, or just live in the apartment and save more money over the years?

Rates are pretty high right now but I've heard of things like rate buydowns which I'm considering.

At my age (35) I just feel like I need to havesomethingto start building equity in. I'm not concerned about home prices plummeting because I think that's never going to happen.