I know the 3 year or 5 year "rule" on buying a house; that is, don't buy if you don't plan on living there for at least 3/5 years so you can recoup the sunk cost of closing costs. My wife and I are looking into buying a house, but we may only be in this city for a year or two. Before getting the news that my parents are gifting us nearly 20k to go towards the house, we were thinking of just renting due to the unknowns around my future employment (I have an agreement with the company to work remotely for the next year, but it has to be renewed every year). Now that they are giving us a huge amount of money (well, huge to me), does that change the rule? We would much rather buy than rent; the rental houses in the area are few and far between, and apartments aren't much better. The houses we're looking at are around 250k. Even if the house doesn't appreciate and we only live there for a year, I wouldn't have "lost" any money because my parents are essentially covering closing costs and then some. There's also the potential I get a new job in the area or stay remote for much longer. Any advice?
EDIT: Thanks to everyone who's replied so far. I didn't realize how much goes into buying/selling/maintaining a house. I'm already pretty confident that renting is still the best option for us, but I'll still do some digging. Thanks everyone.
Submitted May 14, 2021 at 10:54PM by Happylightsocket https://ift.tt/2QkAmKF
