That's the question. We looked at our mortgage loan paperwork last night and got a little freaked out! Of course, this whole house shopping process is turning out to be more expensive than we expected. We should have known, right? The house costs a little more than what we wanted to spend (but we may have had unrealistic expectations considering the neighborhoods in which we're shopping). The monthly payments are within our budget, but we were hoping to pay less so that we'd have more money to spend on fun things like travel. We have eight days to decide if this is the place for us.
On one hand, we're getting the house below market value. It's in a convenient location and the neighborhood is up-and-coming so we could potentially sell it in the not-too-distant future and make a sizable profit. It's also highly rentable if we want to go that route. I feel like it's a decent investment opportunity. On the other hand, the monthly payment is almost as much as our rent, and we have to factor in paying for maintenance, which we don't have as renters. I think the ultimate question is are we ready to be home owners? I know it's in our budget to buy this house. We're just getting cold feet because of the financial commitment. We have to live somewhere, and right now we're getting zero return on investment for the rent money we're spending, and if we buy this place, we're doing something with our money that could turn a profit for us in the future.
Rent vs. buy... What would you do in this situation?
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