We get this question all the time. New clients come in, faces twisted into anxious little knots as they debate the pros and cons of one approach versus the other. Before things start devolving into "what type of person am I" type questions, we try to point out that renting versus buying isn't quite the existential question that some people see it as.
Yes, you should consider whether you want to be attached to a property for more than the term of a lease, but mostly you should figure out the point at which you're maximising the money you're spending on a place to live. Enter The New York Times Rent vs. Buy calculator. It's not the only calculator of its kind around, but it is the loveliest.
You'll still need to do a bit or research -- perhaps with the help of your broker -- to estimate how much the value of a property you buy might go up, but after that it takes about a minute to fill out and immediately generates a gorgeous chart that'll tell you when to keep renting and when to take the buying plunge.
That said, we're around if you need a sounding board for a buying versus renting existential crisis. We've all had those days.
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