Housing advice - location and rent vs. buy? (Anderson: apartment, rental homes)

[tmc2012]

Hi all,
I'll be starting a fellowship (3-5 years) at MD Anderson in July 2012, and could use some advice on housing. My wife and I will have a newborn in hand, and will be looking for the combination of "safe, affordable, clean" that everyone else is seeking. We have lived in northern metropolitan areas for the past 8 years, and are happy with urban living. Our goal monthly housing budget is 1000-1500, with lower being better. We anticipate needing 2 cars parked, and are deciding between 2 and 3 bedrooms (would rent 2, but probably buy 3).

Major questions:
1. What does everyone think of renting vs. buying? At this pricenpoint, we could purchase a 200-300k home, which seem quite nice, but we're not quite sure what will be happening over the next 3-5 years in the housing market.
2. Where do you all recommend living, given these price constraints?

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and reply!

[chris_ut]

Not sure if you are factoring all your costs. If your budget is 1k to 1500 you could buy a 140k - 200k house if you avoid new construction with MUD taxes.

[Topaz]

Try this: Rent vs. buy calculator

If you are only going to be here 3 years, I think the calculator will tell you to rent. "More than 5 years" is the cutoff for buying.

[testmo]

obviously id recommend living as close to the med center as possible. willow meadows/bend, meyerland and westbury are the cheaper alternatives for houses compared to med center and west u.

lots of doctors and med students are in this area

i wouldnt recommend buying a house if you possibly will be moving in 3 years. itll take longer than that for the economy to turn around and selling a home may be difficult.

an apartment with a garage in this area will be pushing your budget if not well beyond it

[tmc2012]

Originally Posted by testmo

i wouldnt recommend buying a house if you possibly will be moving in 3 years. itll take longer than that for the economy to turn around and selling a home may be difficult.

an apartment with a garage in this area will be pushing your budget if not well beyond it

This is exactly the type of insight that I was looking for. After using rent vs. buy calculators, it seems like the window of 3-5 years is where your ability to benefit from a good price-to-rent ratio is dependent on the trajectory of the local market, and it's tough to get a sense of this without knowing the area too well.

Keep it coming!

[testmo]

there are rental homes here in that price range. HAR is a good way to search. never used them for rental homes but threads on this forum have said you can do that on the website

[houstonfan]

Rent. The taxes here are really high so for a 300k home, your property tax (about 3%) willl already be almost the amount you'd pay for rent. Not to mention all the other items on your monthly note and don't forget the costs involved in buying and selling a home. Your monthly cost will for sure be higher than renting. Also, single homes in the city that are nice, safe and 3drm will usually go for well beyond 300k.

[testmo]

not true about the 300k. there are definite spots still in the city (or less than 10 miles away) that are still 200k and less (and less than 7 miles away from tmc)

[houstonfan]

Originally Posted by testmo

not true about the 300k. there are definite spots still in the city (or less than 10 miles away) that are still 200k and less (and less than 7 miles away from tmc)

Sorry, by in the city, I was referring to in the loop 610, where it's really urban. If you're willing to go out 10miles (inside beltway), well then lots more option esp if you're ok with an older home or townhome

[testmo]

10 miles from downtown not 610. i am way far from the beltway