<prompt> Human: Edit: Thanks to those who gave input. I think for now Ill go ahead and keep renting. When my landlord comes back with a firm move date, Ill consider my next steps then continuing to rent small, renting bigger, or purchasing if my financial situation has changed.Hi personalfinance,Im looking for some guidance on if I should continue to rent or if I should buy.Financial background: - I am currently debt free. - I currently pay 600month in rent utilities included. I rent in a house with 2 other people. - I usually set aside between 1500-2000month for a down payment. - I currently have about 50k in my bank account. I consider 15k of that to be for emergencies only and about 3k to be for potential unexpected expenses car, medical, air fare for a trip home. - I am currently setting aside 9 of my income for retirement 3 from my employer.Area background: - I have been in the area around a year. I anticipate staying in the area for at least another 5 years. - Combining the type of area I would like to live in with the types of houses I like, I would be looking at paying between 325k and 360k for a 3br house. I could pay around 250k for a 3br in neighborhoods with higher crime rates. I could pay around 250k for a 3br in neighborhoods further outside of town which would likely require me to invest in a new car because of weather related issues. - I anticipate the cost of utilities to be somewhere in the range of 150-250month, depending on the time of year. - I would like to rent out one of the rooms, but I know that I would not want to buy a house that I could not afford without renting. - Housing prices in the area are rising, but I dont want to make a rash decision when it comes to such a large investment.Questions: - Should I be looking to invest in a house now? Should I wait until I have saved to some type of mile marker 20 down payment or another value? Should I wait until I know if I will be staying in the area longer than 5 years? - If its going to be a long time until I should invest in a house, what should I do with the money? Should I put more into retirement? Should I look into short term investments?Thanks for reading!Assistant: Did you look at the rent versus buy calcuator linked from the housing section of the wiki? Also homes are lousy investments. Buy one because you want to live there, not because you think its going to net you extra cash when you sell.Human: The rent vs buy calculator doesnt seem applicable because Im not currently renting the type of place that I would like to buy. Part of the reason Id like to invest is to have a place where I could be settled. Ive lived in three places since I moved out here. Right now, a lot of my belongings are in boxes in the garage because theres not space in my landlords house for me to have any of it out. If I end up having to move again, I may need to invest in storage.Im okay with digging through boxes for now if thats what makes sense. Im okay with putting things into storage in the future if that what makes sense. If I can manage to fit a place that I could where I could be more permanently settled into my budget, Id really like that, but I wouldnt want to do it to the point of financial strain or ruin. I could look to rent a one bedroom apartment for around 1200month for some more permanence in the form of a lease, but it seems like at that price, I may as well stay where I am until I have enough to buy. Or am I reading the situation incorrectly?Ive lived in 16 places in the last 2.5 years. My landlord has let me know that he may be looking to sell in the next year or two, and I dont really want to start house hopping again, but I can if it makes the most sense.Sorry for the long-winded response, but I guess Im stuck between not being familiar enough with finance to know what I can reasonably afford and a strong desire to settle somewhere.  <response>: Rent vs buy calculators dont assume you would rent the same thing you would buy. 