With the local housing market somewhat depressed and housing prices dropping, this may be one of the best times in recent memory to move from being a renter to becoming an owner. Interests rates have crept up a bit, but are still in the 6-7 something range - still relatively low. The links below might help you with this timeless decision.

Almost everything that you find on-line under the topic “rent vs. Buy” involves rushing into calculations to see how much you can afford to pay on a mortgage. That’s because most of those loan calculators are supplied by mortgage companies. They don’t want you to think about it for too long - just do it.  

Here are a very good series of articles by Suze Orman as published on the Yahoo Financial site. Suze is very cautionary in these articles that you understand what home ownership is all about, and not rush into what could become your worst nightmare. That’s good advice. It shouldn’t stop you, just make you a more informed home buyer or renter.