Question re: renting owner occupied

[Beverly Buella]

Hi there!

I just wanted to get some thoughts on renting vs. buying. My husband and I currently rent the house that we live in. We really like the block, our neighbors, etc. and on top of that we're getting a really awesome deal because the landlord knew that we knew the neighbors and had a feeling we'd be good tenants. We're paying below market rent to live in a great location. If we bought a house in the area in which we live, our monthly payment would be around 50% more than what we currently pay.

I am all for the idea of buying with a long term plan in mind. At the same time, I'm hesitant on buying a house that we occupy because it gives us less flexibility if my husband's job changes, which it does every 2-3 years. I've been leaning more towards buying a multi-unit in a rapidly appreciating area vs. a single family home in the area that we currently live in (a suburb with a great school district and is appreciating, but taxes are high), with the idea that the rents on the property we buy (say $5k total in rents) would exceed the rent that we are paying (say $2500 rent).

I'm totally excluding any tax benefits/liabilities for this scenario and am purely looking at it from a monthly payment perspective. I am not super keen on the differences in the tax benefits or liabilities for owning a home vs. renting out an investment property.

What are your thoughts? Would you:

a) continue to rent in the area you love, and use the money you would to buy your house in order to buy a cash flowing property

or would you you:

b) buy a house in the area that you love and increase your monthly living expenses by 50% more?

I like the flexibility that renting offers. At the same time, there are all the "pride of home ownership" benefits that come along with owning your house and making it yours, etc. Just wanted to see what other people are doing and if me favoring renting vs. buying an owner occupied property is really off base!

Thx so much-