YES!

Since this describes my current position, I completely agree.

I’ll post an update soon.

The reasons you outlined in the post make perfect sense to hold on.

Renting has its advantages but they usually all relate to having a good hands on landlord who is around to fix any problems. When you are forced to fix the problems yourself it can take away from the benefits of renting.

Great insights.

In our current price range, it’s difficult to find what we need. We have three kids… and I work from home full-time, so I need a dedicated work space. That’s why we’ve considered looking in a slightly higher price range if possible.

I am willing to buy a short sale. The trick: Banks are overwhelmed right now, and they’re taking 3-4 months to respond to offers on short sales. You might close in 5-6 months… if you’re lucky.

Some deals fall through at the closing table because the bank demands more money at the last second. So short sales are very unpredictable.

In our housing market, prices are fairly stable. Maybe dropping slightly. It’s curious because there’s a large supply of homes that simply aren’t selling. I believe prices will drop during the next six months.

Ryan

1. If it has been more than 3 years since you last owned a home, you might qualify for the $7500 new home-owner tax credit. (Which isn’t really a creadit, It’s more of an interest free loan as I understand it, but still a good deal.) If you do qualify, that should put a large dent into your self employment taxes.

2. What is you housing market like? Here we are starting to recover. Prices are rising but slowly. We expect to still have some great deals through the winter, but once the snow melts prices are likely to rise again.

3. Are you going to pay more in taxes if you can’t itemize? Being able to claim your interest and taxes is very helpful. You can’t do that with rent.

4. Interest rates just dropped to 5.5% fixed. Do you qualify?

5. What are you thinking???? The goal here is to get out of debt and one of your arguments for waiting is so you can afford a bigger house? You should buy what you need. Why do you need a more expensive house if your debt is less?

6. Are you willing to buy a less expensive fixer/forcloser/short sale to save money?

The problem with giving you an answer is that for different parts of the country we have different marketing conditions. Here I’d say buy, but other places are better for renting.