[AmyBergquist]

If you know you are going to stay here for less than 3 years and don't want to become a landlord in the future, my advice is most often to continue renting. Realize that when you sell there is usually a 6-7% "cost" associated with selling between paying an agent to sell your house (the most common route) and state/town conveyance tax. That doesn't include hiring an attorney and items you'd need to fix related to a buyer's home inspection. If you have little to no down payment, the money you'd be paying every month into a mortgage is going to mostly the interest payment- you're not really building much equity during those first few years.

One caveat to this is if you know you have a job that will offer a relocation package that would pick up selling costs and/or buy you out of the house.

Renting may seem like a waste of money, but it may be better than the alternative you face when trying to sell in just a couple of years.

[vyzl]

Hey there, I'm not going to get into the calculations at all -- I trust that you can talk to a few lenders and try some of those online calculators that can figure out your costs for rent vs. buy depending on length of expected stay, rates, down payment, etc.

But I'm going to give you my totally personal advice regarding buying because of pressure from family, the attraction to build equity instead of "throwing money away" at rent, being tired of apartment living, it being a "great time to buy," thinking you could always rent it out, etc. Because that was exactly my situation in 2009 when I bought a condo in Chicago, knowing that I would likely move away in 2 years. Well, I don't completely regret it, but I can tell you that it has been a TON of work -- viewing places, the emotional roller coaster of the offer process, the inspection, meeting with lenders and agents and lawyers, all aspects of maintenance (learning everything so you're informed enough to either DIY or hire the right professional), finding renters, drawing up leases, finding an on-call "super" to take care of maintenance after I moved out of state, keeping in touch with the HOA, etc... and I'm probably still leaving off a lot of random stuff in between that I'm forgetting about now. Think about the opportunity cost of that time, which I'd estimate at a few hundred hours cumulative. Also think about the potential stress all of this extra work creates. And I don't even have kids! If you know you're not gonna stress about these things and can get the help you need perhaps through your mother, then it seems more viable. If I were you though, I'd keep renting, and start saving for a down payment for when I'm ready to settle in one place for the long term.