I'm new here, please feel free to school me on any incorrect assumptions I may be making. 

My family is super old-school and don't want anything to do with something like real estate.

I am looking at school districts, city rent control policies, annual incomes, neighborhood class, etc. 

To get technical, my girlfriend (now wife) was the sole purchaser as I just graduated from law school so my salary history (or lack thereof) dinged us on rates.

This is not a typical scenario happy warm house/brag about being homeowners this is strictly business and to give us a roof over our head as we transition in life (I work a relatively higher paying job that may not be around forever; she is in nursing school).

I'm looking at a property near Boston for $70k, decent school district, 5 minute walk from the train station (15 mins to the city), and median selling price in the area is well above current asking price (~$400K).

I've had some other, but related users come look at the property; Boys&Girls Club, a charter school, someone that wanted to convert into .  

My agent went to Manfred School.  

Especially hearing that Arianne was an SPL (which is what I went to school for), and how she deals with being a woman in a male dominated industry such as real estate investing.

You can always learn from The School of Hard Knocks, of course.