Buy or rent or just go surfing?!?

[Clayton Swansen]

Good evening all! Or at least where in the world I am it is! I am fairly new to BP, and I am literally giddy to have found such a wealth of information, and people willing to share their knowledge and experience all in one place. Being that I now have all of you good, kind, and savvy investors to tap for some advice, I do believe I shall take advantage... so here is my question in the form of a medium-long and winding story: 

I am a bit of a slow bloomer in the area of adulting... I have spent my life in the military, and then college, and then traveling for work and for pleasure, and soaking up all that there is to see and learn and do in the world... essentially doing anything but learning to build wealth, and setting down roots somewhere. 

Then a few months ago I happened upon my now beloved BP podcasts, and then Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and Think and Grow Rich, and... you get the point, my friends. I am learning to change my ways, my perspective, and my goals for the future... and I must say, it is exhilarating. I feel that in pursuing this new objective, I have learned more about myself and the fascinating world of personal finance in the last few months than I have in... maybe ever. We are talking life-changing, people. And this is coming from a guy who always scoffed at people who talked about this or that "life-changing" book or PODCAST! But it's true! I am beyond excited to apply what I have learned to the task of freeing myself forever from the bonds of debt, and unwanted employment. Someday you will hear my story as told Brandon and Josh on the BP podcast!

But before that happens, I shall offer up my dilemma for you, in hopes that I might solicit some kernel of wisdom from one or many of you kind souls... 

I swore after listening to BP that I would never rent another abode again. I have a VA loan available to me, I am eligible for an FHA, and I have about 15k saved for investing purposes. My goal was to find a place to house hack, but the market has gone b-a-n-a-n-a-s where I live in northwest Washington State. With competition so fierce, I am running into a bit of a time crunch... not a good place to be when trying to buy a smart investment property. You see, I spend the major part of my time working overseas (5 weeks out/3 weeks home on average). I've been couch surfing (read: bumming) the last year when I am back in the states, and I am incredibly grateful to my kind friends and family, but I can't tell you how old this is getting for all involved.

So I decided to settle a bit for now, and find a reasonable home to live in that allows me to easily cover the mortgage, and at the same time continue to save more, and look for another property to buy and hold. I have a home in mind. It is a small, well taken care of beach cabin, two blocks from the beach, in a great summer vacation area... winter not so much. I need a turnkey on this one, or nearly so, as I just don't have time or money for major renovations right meow. This means I likely won't be buying a killer deal, but I will still be paying a low-ish mortgage. Less than $1k/month including insurance and taxes is what I am shooting for. In a year or two I would want to either rent it out, or Airbnb it. I feel that we are at the top of the market or damn near (like I have a clue what I'm talking about), and so I think I would have a hard time getting out of it within the next 5-10 years with any worthwhile profit. Or, in the end, is it just smarter to rent, not lock myself in, and buy myself some extra time?

I sincerely thank you for accompanying me on this little journey, friends, for the lending of a sympathetic ear is counted among the finest things on earth.