Should you buy or rent in today's market?
Renting a home is a good idea if you intend to stay at this home no more than 2 years. The reason for this is that there are costs associated with buying and selling. If you intend to sell the home within 2 years, it is better to rent.
Buying a home in an unstable market, like today, is risky in the short term.
On average people live in a home for seven years. It makes sense to buy a home if you intend to stay there for more than 5 years.
No one knows for sure how the real estate market might develop. Have we reached rock bottom, or will prices go down even more. No one knows for sure.
The advantage of ownership is that you can use property taxes and mortgage interest as taxable deductions.
As an owner you can make changes, and improvements to the property, inside as well as outside.
Interest rates are at a historically low rate right now.
The supply of homes on the market is huge right now. It is a buyers market. This gives you room to make a deal with the seller.
