Rent before buying when relocating?

[Midpack]

You all have me pretty well talked into renting for a variety of reasons.

That being said, I was an 'Army brat' growing up and we moved without knowing anything about the new location every 3 years or so, though we were in Army housing mostly so there was never a real estate factor. As an adult, I've relocated 5 times, always to areas I had never lived, and DW and I made a home buying decision based on a one week house hunting trip every time. Not ideal, but doable.

It will be nice to have the luxury of renting first after 57 years of not really having that option. Thanks everyone...

 

[Huston55]

MidPack-

DW and I are planning to move to FL upon retirement (~2014) and plan to rent. Here's our rationale.

We are very likely going to retire in a beach community where we lived for a year about 20 yrs ago, and we've returned twice on vacations since then. So, we know something about the community, thus placing it at the top of our list. However, we are still not 100% sure. And, we've calculated the monthly housing cost renting and buying; renting is clearly cheaper in our situation (condo). Buying would cost at least 30% more per month. So, for us, it's a way to save on housing cost early in ER (we've disccussed renting for 2-5 yrs), ensure that "this is the place", and be able to watch for a buying bargain.

We've moved A LOT so, the prospect of one more move isn't daunting to us; I know this is not so for all. And, financially, the $$$ we'll save renting will more than pay for the move when we buy.

So, renting first is almost all upside for us.