No offense but you comment does not make you sound very educated on the actual financial subject of purchasing a home.
I currently own a home and can understand to a certain degree where you are coming from when you say to buy. Realistically it depends on the market in the area you are considering. When and if you are able to figure out the market then you need to ask your self these questions.
1. How is my credit can I qualify for the best current interest rate?
2. Do I have at least 3-5% to put down on a home?
3. On top of money to put down do I have enough for closing costs?
If you can answer yes to all of the above then you can truly decide if you should rent or buy you do this generally the following way.
1. Find out what rent would be a month for a certain area.
2. Look at home prices and determine how much is needed for down payment and closing costs.
3. Find out what realtor fees are in the area you will be buying as in 4 years you will have o pay them to sell your house.
4. Decide how you will be paying for your mortgage. If you have a spouse this can usually help. If you are floating it on your own realize you are being penalized twice because the money you are using is coming from loans which you are already paying to use.
Now lets look at a real example:
Monthly rent of $1000 x 4 years = $48,000
Now to buy a $230,000 house:
1.You will need lets say on average 5% to put down =$11,500
2.About $9,000 in closing costs
Giving you a monthly payment of:
Principal And Interest $1,435
Taxes and insurance $162
Mortgage insurance $107 (you can't avoid this unless you put 20% down)
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Total Payment $1,704
$1,704 a month x 4 years= $81,792
Now look at a 4 year appreciation at 3% annually =$27,600
Cost to sell you home in 4 years using a realtor =$15,456
So cost to a buy a $230,000 home for 4 years is:
4 years of payments $81,792
5% down $11,500
closing costs $9,000
realtor fees to sell + $15,456
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$117,748
minus the appreciation of your home:
-$27,600
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$90,148 = total cost to buy for 4 years
So Rent or Buy? For this scenario because you will only be in the home for 4 years you will not get enough appreciation, or return on your investment to constitute buying.
Buy for 4 years = $90,148
Rent for 4years= - $48,000
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$42,148 saved from renting
If you have any questions feel free to PM me.