To buy or rent? Forum

[LorGirl64]

I was accepted into the University of Alberta law program.

I have a substantial amount of money saved for school but the real estate market in my province has recently crashed with prices dropping 9%. We have a five year boom bust cycle due to the oil field. I'm thinking about possibly buying a house instead of renting. The average cost to rent is around 1300/month, plus utilities, where a mortgage would be around 1200/month. If I were to buy, I could rent the basement or rooms for between 1000-1500/month. Either way, I'm going to have to take out student loans for my degree. Buying would leave me with more student debt potentially but I would have an asset in real estate and a stable place to live while I study and then article as well as the possibility of rental income.

A house would be roughly $280,000 - $310,000 with a down payment of about $18,000 (includes closing costs)
A monthly mortgage would be $1,300/month, $250 property taxes, and utilities.
First year tuition is roughly $16,000

Savings I have currently- $50,000
RESP- $8,000 (books)

What do you think? Any similar experiences?

[KMart]

I see the opportunity, but I just wouldn't want the hassle of owning a home and managing the rental income portion while in law school. Your grades are more important than the opportunity owning a home in a down market provides, don't take on the extra debt.