Buy, Rent, or foreclosed

If you rent an apartment you are subject to rent increases every year (or sooner) and your money does not benefit you. If you buy something and get a 30 year fixed rate mortgage your monthly payments stay the same for the life of the loan and you have a good investment. Right now it's a buyer's market so, if you want to buy, now is the time. But, location and price are the two most important things to consider. You don't want to live in a bad area and you don't want a mortgage payment that is going to strain your budget.

Don't throw your money away renting. With the market today, you can find a nice foreclosure if you look. You could even find one that needs some work done while living in it. At least when you buy something, you can turn around and make money on it. Renting is just throwing money away unless you are renting to own. I built the house I live in now and will be able to make over $60k when I sell it here soon to build a new one. I also own a foreclosed home. We bought it from the bank for $40K and it appraises for $130K. I have been rehabbing it some and may put $20K into it. I have a renter in it and will have another. So, I can sell it and make $50K+ on it or have great income monthly from the renters. At your age, buy a mult-family house. Rent one side and live in the other. The rent from the one side should pay the bills and you virtually be living for free.

If I were you I would buy a house rather then rent. When you rent something the money is going to you landlord or whomever. When you do your taxes you dont get your rent back. But, if you take out a morgage and buy a house if i am not mistaken you can claim that on your taxes. I am not too sure on how that works. Plus, with a house you can make into your own just like someone else on her had already stated. Forclosed homes you may want to like be careful about. With a forclosed home you may have back taxes and leans that you have to pay off before you can get the house. Alot of times if a home as a lean on it the person who is buying the house has to pay that lean up front in cash before you can buy it. But defentally invest in a home rather than rent something.

The down side of buying a dwelling of some sort is that if the price of housing goes down after you have obtained your morgage then you may get stuck in a negative equity trap. You might not be able to move if you need to as selling would get you less money than you owe the bank.