Advice Please! Young couple needing to relocate (rent or buy)?

[isthisused]

This one is easy. No emergency fund! DONT buy a house. No down payment, Dont buy a house. Dont know if youll be in the area for at least 4 years, Dont buy a house. I love being a homeowner and I would be very happy for you to enjoy homeownership. But you should get yourself into a better situation first.

[wincrasher]

You are getting good advice here. Please follow it. You are living too close to the edge to commit to owning your own house.

Especially if there is the potential to move again in a year, bearing the costs of buying one place, then having to bear them again for a new one will push you into a financial crisis without a major change in your debt levels and savings.

[SnoopyCool]

Even if the odds are in your favor in that area, you have no guarantee that you'll find a renter when you need one. And if that happens, you'll be paying a mortgage plus rent in your new place.

[Goldy1]

I would say home ownership has been one of the biggest joys of my life. Me an dh hate the idea of paying rent.
WE have freinds who rented for years, and behind thier backs we called them unwise for not buying, but with the housing crach an ensuing job losses, it kind of worked out for them to stay renting.
However, they were unwise to chose extremly high rent properties and not build up emergency funds.
My house has sucked tons of money with repairs ie new roof, furnace, ac,sprinklers etc, but we do one thing every year or 2.

I feel cons to being tied down to my home. It's finally almost paid off, and I love that but when looking for work, it really limits us as far as how far we are willing to drive. This is esp. a factor in MI b/c our winters can be pretty nasty.

[TBH]

I totally understand your impatience to buy, but I have to agree with everyone else that you're not ready. There are a lot of unexpected expenses when you own a house. Rent is very predictable, but when you own you have to be prepared to spend money on unexpected repairs. Dealing with a landlord can be a bummer, but since we bought our house five years ago there have been many times when we've wished we had a landlord to call. Toilet broken. Pipes frozen. Water damage behind siding. Heat not working when the baby already has a chest cough. These are all calamities that we've had to deal with ourselves.

Yes, home ownership is great, but you need a better cash cushion first.

Also, what folks have said about closing costs is important. It means you need to live in the house for several years so your principal payments and market gains recover the costs to you of buying and eventually selling the home.

Also--nothing is a good short term investment right now. Not real estate. Certainly not stocks.

I agree with Jim. Pay down debt. Keep renting. Contribute to your 401k, at least enough to get the match. Maybe when the next promotion comes around, if you expect to stay put for at least 3 years, you can go ahead and buy.

Of course the decision is yours, but this is what I think you should do.

[snafu]

Not only do you have a ton of debt...you plan to add it it with wedding expenses. How secure is your job/fiancee? This economic mess has not yet reached bottom nor spin out parameters.

You asked for advice and it has been offered with the best of intentions by people who understand the underlying pitfalls.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Get married first then buy? I say that because I've tons of friends (including myself) who bought before marriage. Most never make it to the alter. My DH and I were the exceptions from everyone we knew.

Even now when we mentioned we bought while living together, or if it comes up in a conversation in a group of people, everyone else says "get married before buying."