I am a 27 year old single male mechanical engineer. I searched (I admit, somewhat briefly) and found some posts similar to what I am asking, but most people had debts or situations slightly different enough that I still felt the need post.
My income/savings details on a bi-weekly basis:
Regular Income: $2830
Federal: $339.57
State (rate is 5.75% for my state): $104
Social: $173.67
Medicare: $40.61
Medical / Dental Ins: $28
401k Contribution: $700
401k Match: $85
Roth IRA Contribution: $220
Vanguard Taxable Savings: $220
All other Expenses: $1004
This puts my savings rate around 40% of my gross income, or around 50% of my after tax.
I am not completely mustachian in my expenses, I know where I can improve (get a roommate, cut down on the drinking/going out, buy less expensive food), so you're not going to tell me anything that I don't already know. I am comfortable with my spending and savings rates and time to FIRE, so I am not really looking for advice in that department and am not going to go into a breakdown of expenses, but feel free to face punch away anyway.
Savings Balances
Vanguard Traditional IRA: $40,870
Vandguard Roth IRA: $9,100
Vanguard Taxable: $11,100
Company 401k: $16,940
Savings Account: $3000
Total: $81,000
Total Non-Retirement: $14,100
I have zero debt, no car loan, no student loan, no credit cards. I live 3 miles from work in an apartment by myself and have a reliable 2012 car with 74,000 miles, so I don't think it will need replacing / major repairs soon. I bike to work a few times a week.
I live in a decent sized city where townhomes / condos go for anywhere between $120k to $200k in my area. I like living close to work / living in the city and prefer going to a park instead of having my own yard to maintain. Also most houses are far too big for me and more expensive. I volunteer a lot in the city as well. Living under 5 miles from work / park / library is insanely important to me. I am a complainypants / deserve some face punches in that I won't want to bike more than 5 miles to work, and I want to live alone (not opposed to a significant other if I fall in love someday, but no roommates).
My rent is $900 per month, so I think buying makes sense as long as I don't care about mobility. I just signed a 1 year lease as I do care about mobility somewhat right now. I am feeling out my job for another year, but if I still like it, I am thinking I should buy a townhome or condo at the end of my lease.
I take what MMM says about if you don't have the discipline to save 20% for a down payment on a home you shouldn't buy at all very seriously. My $3000 savings account is my sleep well at night money and I am not willing to put that towards the down payment, so I figure worst case I need to save around $30k. This is about what I save in a year, but unfortunately about $24k of that goes into tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
So my questions are:
Should I hold off putting money in the 401k (except to get the match) and Roth IRA to save for the down payment?
Should I just rent for a few more years and save the way I have been until I have enough in non-retirement accounts for the down payment?
Should I just keep saving what I am saving and buy with what I have as a down payment and mortgage the rest?