Need opinions and knowledge. Very naïve in regards to real estate. I've never lived on my own besides college and now at my boyfriend's apartment for a few months (but he pays rent). I am 22, and he is 26.. we both have good credit, and my mother, whose credit is excellent, has agreed to help us. I am a new nurse in Brighton/Boston, and he is a boxer/works at a hotel in Boston. We both have our own car. We want to find a place near Boston (I am from Watertown, he is from Dorchester) to invest into instead of paying rent to an apartment we will never own. Each of us have a few thousand saved separately, however just beginning our careers and will save more in months to come. He covers rent and food where we are now (which is cheap; roughly $700/month) because I am focusing on paying my school loans (roughly $1,000/month) which I plan on consolidating and refinancing because I owe $75,000 for nursing school and eventually want to go back to grad school. Then we both have our normal monthly bills: car payment (only his, mine is paid off), car insurance, phone bill, gym, etc. Do we continue as we are and save while he pays cheap rent? Or do we start looking for a condo now? Or a house? And if so, where do we look? Help!! Need life advice or an unbiased third party to enlighten me with a plan! Please and thank you.