I've also begun to put in more pet/kid friendly flooring (vinyl, tile) to make it even less of a concern. 

Can you invest your kid's UGMA/UTMA accounts on Real Estate on their behalf to grow their money?

of course, but i learned from that too. no one has ever set out to do anything and learned how to do it with out first learning how not to do it. the greatest story i ever heard was about the assistant to thomas edison. when edison finally invented a working light bulb, ( which by the way took him 10,000 tries), he gave the bulb to his assistant to carry upstairs to the testing lab. the poor kid tripped on the stairs and broke the bulb. edison simply made another one and gave it to the same kid again to take upstairs. when someone asked him why he gave it to this kid since he broke the first one, edison simply said " i bet he won't do that again". he was right. learn how to do something wrong the first time to learn how to do it right the next time. get out there and just get going...... good luck to you

My fiancé and I live in NYC and know we do not want to raise kids here.

Especially if it's a couple with a kid(s).

I try to imagine my young kids using this bathroom and what it would look like over time if they did, and based on how it looks now, I'm certain my kids would have that place consistently soaked with water going everywhere and covered in mold/mildew/rot within less than a year :PI'm definitely not against leaving them as is if it makes more sense financially, I'm just not convinced that it will in the long term.

No one ever plans on getting divorced but it is considerably harder logistically when the partner who stayed home with kids has no credit to get an apartment or refinance the house into their name. 

Mike I'm going to agree with this and have known at least one stay at home mom who was abandoned by the husband and left alone with 3 kids who followed this path and did very well for herself.

@Mike GordonYou weren’t kidding.

Details: I'm currently 30 (no kids) and my wife and I plan on retiring with a decent "pension" at 42.