Thanks y'all. I also see one of the advantages of the 401(k) as the fact that it's just MAGIC and I won't be tempted into any lifestyle inflation if it's deducted and invested before I get my paycheck.
Yup, I'm barely into the 25% range with my day job income, but I should mention that I also work contract work on the side pretty often (which is *ohsofun* at tax time) so I usually have about $2-7K of contract income, depending on the year. So for 2015 I may have over $4-9K in the 25% range, but I don't know right now. I often can write off a lot of work travel for the contract work, further complicating it.
I live in a city with one of the tightest rental markets in the country (my rent has been jumping 5-10% annually and I still pay vastly below market so if I had to move it would nearly double), so saving for a down payment is definitely a high priority for me, making me wonder if I should allocate a larger portion of my income towards the down payment savings now, while I can. But that compound interest in the 401(k)...
(Not to mention that as someone who gives 10% of my income to charity, if I owned a home I'd be able to itemize, and then those donations would be worth some deduction $$.)