Buying vs Renting while at school in expensive area

[Blake Burnett]

Looking for advice and feedback. 

I will be getting out of the military in 11 months and am going to be using my GI bill to pay for schooling. I am returning back home to Portland, OR. My BAH (housing allowance froM the G.I. bill) is over $2200 a month where I'm attending and I will have that for 3 years. This does not count as income so it will not help me qualify for a larger loan. I plan on buying before I get out so I can still show income. My question is, would it be better to buy or rent in an expensive area like Portland. I know most memebers here are against condos, but at this time, price wise that's about all I qualify for in the area. On most condos PITI + HOAs will run anywhere from $1150-1300. The ones I've looked at have no rental cap and would rent for $100-$200 over that which leaves no room for reserves or special assessments. Would it be better to bite the bullet and spend the $35k (will be using conventional loan) up front as a down payment and have a home that could potentially be a rental when I move out in 3-4years or rent and pay someone else that $35k in rent over the course of the next few years. Any advice, thoughts, or alternate ideas are appreciated.