Throughout this exercise I learned a number of lessons. My annual gross income was $42,000 which allowed me to spend a minimum of $136,774 and a maximum of $167,265 on a house and or apartment. I found there was a wider variety of buying options as opposed to renting. I could afford 1320 dollars of rent per month, which made it extremely difficult to find a house/apartment that had more than two bedrooms. Keeping in mind, I had a third grader and a sixth grader, their schooling options needed to be within acceptable distance to the house. I didn’t chose a house or apartment that did not have a public school system to fall back on. There were plenty of magnet schools which would fulfill both of my children’s needs however, since a lottery is necessary for placement, they could have spent over an hour on the bus to and from school. With that being said, I was also lucky enough to have a car which would assist with my children’s transportation and with my route to work. However, necessities were not particularly close so while choosing a house to buy/rent I went a little under my budget making sure to set aside extra money for gas. The four houses I was willing to buy were 167 Hillcrest Ave in West Hartford, 1047 Boulevard in West Hartford, 178 Cooper Street in Manchester, and 69 New street in Manchester. Out of those four I personally felt my best buy would be 1047 Boulevard in West Hartford. Below is a picture of the front view of the house. 
This is because the location allowed for three schools in very close proximity. My children would be able to attend Bristow Middle School, Environmental Sciences Magnet, and the Smith School of Science all which were close enough for myself to get to incase of an emergency. The house was on the pricier end of the spectrum with a total cost of $160,000 and a thirty percent year fixed price of $656. However, it was the most centrally located in terms of schooling which I felt was an asset that was invaluable. It also was one of the few houses with three bedrooms and two baths.
From our class standings, I was under the impression that my yearly/monthly salary was towards the top of the spectrum. However, I found just the opposite when I looked into renting houses. I could barely afford to rent a house in a nice suburban area. I found many condos but most of them were one or two bedrooms which would not accommodate a third grader and a sixth grader. I also found four places to rent within the inner Hartford area. I figured the best choice would be 20 Otis street in Manchester. That was listed for $1,200 and my limit was $1320. 17 Ellsworth Street, 98 Washington Ave, 123 Williamstown, were all good choices however the square footage was significantly smaller than the houses and from my final rental choice. Overall, I think this exercise was an eye opener. I was not aware how expensive houses were and how difficult it would be to rent a house. I also did not realize all the excess responsibilities that go into picking the perfect place to live.