Buying or Renting?

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Right, if you're in a great place you have no problem. But I've seen many homes sit on the market way too long where I live. Its hard to sell in my area and many factors go into it; not just the home. You have to consider the neighborhood, school districts, job market, etc.

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Exactly true. But the point of my message was that it is not a one size fits all buy or rent. I wouldn't agree that it is always a risk as you stated and that it's always good for OP to be aware of the market in her area. Some areas aren't as hot as others, so knowing where you live definitely helps aide in the decision of buying or renting. For me, rent on a standard house is triple my mortgage payment. In other areas it may be the same or very comparable. It may be riskier in a more stagnant market, but in other areas it may be the better choice to buy, just depends where she lives!

View Quoted Comment My advice to you is save for a good down payment first and build your credit in the meantime while you rent. You'll be approved to buy a nicer home in a couple of years.

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True. We ended up having to buy a house when we totally didn't expect to because the area we are moving to has zero rentals. But its turning out to be an investment opportunity. Rich Dad Poor Dad is a great book to read pertaining to financial freedom. Here's a snip from some of his advice: https://www.richdad.com/resources/rich-dad-financial-education-blog/april-2013/rich-dad-scam-6-your-house-is-an-asset

It is usually not cost effective to buy a house if you will be there less than 2-3 years. Costs of inspection fees, 6 percent to realtor if not bought directly from the seller, cost of a lawyer to review the contract, and do the closing, add up. If you are in a place with $100 K homes, the percentage cost may be only a few thousand, but 3-6 percent of a 300K to 600K house would be $9,000 to 18,000 just in a broker's fee. If you stay only 2 years, the house will not have gained enough in value, to cover all those fees and also taxes for a year up front. And if you leave the area before it is sold, you may have a vacant house you are trying to sell for months, while you are paying new broker's and purchase costs in another place. Depending on the house cost and the market, you take 2.5 to 3 years before you break even with value rise to make up for purchase costs ( inspections, realtor, lawyer, closing) so earlier than that you take a guaranteed loss. Short term renting til you know what you are doing, new jobs or school, or just a location move, makes more sense. . .

If you can bypass any realtor for either you or the seller, a sell by owner listing, what you save in real estate broker fees will be so much that you may break even after 1 year house ownership. And if you take a mortgage, there are even more upfront fees. So everything is, how long are you guaranteed to stay in a house before you have to pay all those fees again? Remember that with a mortgage, you get no equity in the first couple of years, only pay interest. I looked at realtor.com with a sister buying a house last year, and they did a good job in an article, what expenses you pay each time you get a house, adjusted for home price. So you can see everything laid out.

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I agree with this! Also, if you are getting married in less then 4 months, if you are taking his name, you'll have to go through the process of changing your name on the mortgage which is more paperwork and some banks even charge a processing fee.

Thank you so much for all of the thoughtful discussions and advice! This really reallyyyyyy helped me to think about what I should do! 😊

Yeah we are less than 3 months to go and trying to close on a house, and it is a NIGHTMARE. Our agent is a gift from God, but we really should have gone with a different lender.

Anyway. Please. Please. PLEASE just rent for now. It's hell on wheels to try and buy a house when you're this close to a wedding (take it from me), and if you don't know how long you're going to be in an area, you really don't need a commitment as huge as a house weighing on you.

Good luck!

I am glad you brought this up, I have had this on my mind ( both my of us are still living with our families- not living together yet- although we have been together for 10 years- money has been hard) I kept saying we wanted to buy a house before having our wedding( we are still working to pick a real date for the wedding) but we are open to moving for higher paying jobs ( he wants to go to police academy and I am a teacher struggling to find a full time job in a public school). I didn't really want to rent but I know buying is a huge commitment.

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Thanx for sharing, @Allie.

We're also facing the same dilemma of buying or renting. However, we've decided to look at the possibility to invest. I'm discovering FSJ Real Estate as an opportunity to earn some money. So, for the moment, we've decided to rent a small place for us as the profit of the investment will cover the expenses of renting.

If you think you will be moving in a year or so, you should rent. No need to buy a house with all the extra costs to just resell it, and most banks might not let you per a contract.

If you know you both can stay at a home for at least 5-10 years, then I'd say buy a house that is cheap/affordable with a 5 year fixed mortgage rate. Otherwise, when you do know where you want to spend the rest (or most of your life) together, buy a house you can afford with a 30 year fixed mortgage.

Until you are sure of where you want to be, renting is the best option. Selling a house, especially one still under a mortgage is a lot of hassle if you plan to move again soon.

We were in this same boat. due to finances and lack of experience living on our own. we chose renting over buying because of these factors. Rent might be the same amount but buying a home comes with more costs. You will have to pay for everything that gets damaged or broken in your house on top of your mortgage, tax, and utilities. If that all fits in your budget I would go ahead but for me and FH, we don't want to worry about that stuff just yet, we don't plan on having kids soon after, and we both just really want to learn how it is to have our own place(were calling it baby steps lol). Hope you find what you are looking for

In your situation, I would rent! That way you don't have to worry about selling your house and being upside down, etc. My fiance and I are buying a house in January and our wedding is in October and that stresses me out! But we know we're staying in the area and it's also my grandparents house were buying!

If you're not sure about buying a house, don't buy one. It's such a big decision and you should know you're ready before you start looking.