Based on what you’ve said, I’d buy it. The rent cost/buy costs are almost equal, and you could probably even lower the cost of ownership some by accessing some of the useful tax deductions, such as the home-office tax deduction (if you have your own business).
As long as you can afford the expenses, you should be fine. If you can’t hack a 30 year amortized, go for a 10 year interest only.
As far as getting a larger home in the future, if you can’t sell it, you can rent this house out and get the tax deductions for depreciation (which would produce a small amount of cash flow), and then get the larger home (and you would even be able to justify the larger home’s home-office tax deduction).
I think you’ll be fine, but think long term in terms of your loan. As long as you can keep it up, you will be able to get ahead. Having a house isn’t guaranteed wealth, but it does allow you to access the best tax deductions.
