<prompt> Human: DemographicsAge: 25 Marital Status: Co-inhabiting, not looking to marry. He pays half the rent, but if I buy, he would not be on the paperwork at all in case we need to do a clean split soon. Location: Pittsburgh, PA, US. Specifically Shadyside neighborhood.Current Housing status: Renting, would be a clueless first time buyer Current Apartment: Lease until Dec 31st. Apartment complex needs to know by the end of October if Im extending my lease. NumbersYearly Income: 75k Gross Monthly Income: 6300 Current Monthly Rent: 1400 Credit Score: 750No consumer debt. A student loan that I will have paid off once the money settles in like a week. Im a part time grad student. This term I was sent a scary email saying to pay because part time students dont get loans. I paid the 3k tuition. Then NelNet sent me an email 2 days later saying to expect my 9k loan to be reimbursing me SoonTM . Im just going to give them back the money and 10 interest back once it gets to me since everythings already paid up. A car loan that I cosigned for but that I dont pay on since I dont drive co-inhabited boyfriend, who is a good chauffeur.Ideally I was hoping for an apartment under 1600 or a purchase under 300k and if a condo, an HOA under 200month unless they are good about covering things like water and trash ZillowLooking around Zillow over the past couple of months, it looks like moving would mean either a 1700month apartment or a 350k list priced condo and 1 option for a house for like 380k, but its an outlier. Staying in current apartment would mean at least a 3 price hike, so lets assume 1450month for a 12 month lease, 1500month for a 6 month lease, or 1550month for a monthly lease.Its super a sellers market right now. Places get snatched up within a week of being on Zillow. Current ApartmentIts old. I have to put in maintenance requests a couple times a month just because of natural wear and tear. Laundry is communal, and since the neighborhood is near CMU and Pitt, all sorts of college folks are mucking up the machines which then takes weeks to get fixed. Theres no fluff like a pool or anything to really justify spending 1500 on this place. Its just that Google is nearby, so they are getting that sweet software engineer money.Id be looking for a place nearby but with in unit laundry, that allows my cats, and ideally a more modern construction. I prefer to continue to deal with companies over people when it comes to landlords. OptionsOne of my requirements is that I have to be within walking distance to work I dont drive. So moving to the suburbs or middle of nowhere where its cheaper isnt really an option. 1. Renew here for another year and see how the market is then.2. Renew here for 6 months, taking a 50month hit, to see how the springsummer looks.3. Try to look for other apartments, though thats going to be at least 100 more a month due to my requirement for laundry in unit and allowing cats.4. Continue to search for places to buy, but I need to be locked into a decision in a month. The actually settling can take Nov and like half of Dec, but I need to secure a decision on housing by the end of October. CalculatorsVia the wiki, the Rent or Buy calculator says I should only rent if its 1,195month or lower. Thats not really doable around here... so continue house hunting?My online credit unions mortgage calculator says that assuming: 6300 monthly income Ratio of payment of 28 Therefore, total payment per month of 1764 which is more than an apartment . Minus assumed taxes and insurance of 600 I guessed 4500 taxes and 2700 insurance Means max allowable payment would be 1164A down payment of 65000 then would mean a total home value of 281,832. Which... also isnt really doable from what Ive seen around here unless Im putting in offers 100k less than asking price. Default OptionIdeal would be to have an offer accepted on a place mid October so I dont have to think about moving again for a long time. And so I dont have to deal with college students who dont know how to wash clothes.All things considered, though, I have grad school and work full-time, as one of those software engineers that the area is trying to bleed money from, but not at Google to worry about, so Im tempted to do all this research now but then just say heck with it all and keep my butt here for another year. Im a homebody and not happy with the place I spend most of my time, but its the least unaffordable option, especially if boyfriend and I split anytime soon.Follow up question then would be should I move my 65k over to an Ally Money Market account .9 so that its accessible should a place come along but not lurking in my credit union .2 or tied up in Vanguard like weeks to get the money and volatile?  <response>: How much do you have for a down payment?You dont have enough time to do this by mid-October, you have to look at a lot of places to even begin to figure out what is most important to you.Are there 2 or 3-unit buildings for sale in your area? If rents are going up, it might be a good investment to buy a place to live in where you can also collect rental income. You can be approved for a higher amount because the rental income will be factored into what you can pay. 