I’ve raised two babies in pre 1978 houses (both were built in the 1930s) without any issues, ever. Both grew up not only healthy but intelligent enough to be in advanced placement throughout their school years. You repaint when you move in and watch your children carefully. Before you know it, they’re at an age where they know better than to munch on paint chips. Willingness to settle on an older house may help you find one within your price range. We also found affordable houses by settling for older houses that needed a bit of updating which we did ourselves. By doing the work ourselves, we doubled our equity in the first couple of years.

Start with a condo and build equity. I’m north of Boston right off 93 and condos can be had starting at $450 to get you in the door