[john70t]

Take the price difference of a similar house only a few miles away,
-Divide that by her yearly salary,
-Figure out how many years of pure 40-60hr/wk work going straight into the bank. Not vacations.
(Not a countertop or bath remodel. etc)

That is her pure time and labor it would take to pay off only the difference in price.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are won and lost in RE..
Areas and personal lifestyles will change over 30 years.
It should not be an emotional decision.

OTOH: If she is making buku dinero, doing very well with a guaranteed job with path to advancement, needs to reduce commute time for her own sanity, books on tape ain't cutting it for the daily commute, or a more comfy DD for a few thou more won't satisfy that hatred of driving, then being closer to work might be a necessity.