San Luis Obispo Buy in Slo

San Luis Obispo. Why? Location, location, location.

Renting for now is better in either location. Wait a few more years when prices drop more.

In that time frame, I'd say neither is even borderline safe for building equity.

- You'll get tagged 2%-4% or so in closing costs when you buy. Even if you get the seller to cover fees, you're really just paying an inflated price on the home for that privilege.

- You'll get tagged about 6% in realtor fees when you sell.

Thus from the moment you buy you're at -8% to -10% equity (in a liquid sense). At 4 to 7 years you'll have a relatively small time frame to try and recoup not only potential housing declines in the near future, but the expenses incurred from buying and selling.

The ONLY people that should even consider buying right now are those who plan to stay in the home indefinitely as the underlying interest rates are extraordinarily cheap and you'll get to lock those down for 30 years. The risk for a household looking at equity over the short term is far too great in my opinion.