That is a very fluid stage in life to be buying. Considering that it takes a few years just to recover transaction costs the only real reason to buy would be the fear of appreciation. I think we are a couple of years away from that. A lot can happen in the next 2 to 4 years for a couple in a new part of the country, with new jobs and new babies. Apprentices can be offered work in other areas once they complete their program or near completion, they are the first to lose their jobs, babies sometimes come in bunches, that 2 br condo will be outgrown when they have a 2 year old and kid #2 on the way. It’s very difficult to downsize from $1300 mo in SD for a 2br without it getting sketchy or adding a commute that will wipe out the savings in gas.
My advice, stay put and rent until some of the variables in life for them are settled and after those raises come, don’t bake advancement into the financial cake unless it’s an education prohibitive field (ie. MD, PHD) where there aren’t hundreds in line to take their place.
I bought a house when I was 22 or so, newly married, newish jobs, babies on the near term agenda. We had outgrown the place fairly soon and looking back, we would have been much better off if we had rented and bought 4 or 5 years later but kept an eye on the market conditions. That was 1991, market didnt take off again till 1998, we had plenty of time and now with the internet, it’s easier to see things happening than it was back then. It’s better to hold properties for a long time than change them every year or two. When kids are getting ready for school, careers are stable and the family size and income is more predictable, it’s so much easier to be able to predict what your housing needs for the next decade or so will be, very hard to do when you are starting out.
Final answer, stay in place, live cheap, give her the option of staying home if another kids comes along and as his raises kick in. Once the tubes are tied, do the math, then go house shopping.
