在決定買房還是租房最適合妳之前，或許可以先考慮以下這些問題：
How long do you plan to stay in your home? "There are high transaction costs associated with buying and selling a house," says Dean Baker, co-director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, so home buyers should plan to stay put for at least four to five years.
妳打算在新買的房子裏住多久？經濟與政策研究中心(Center for Economic and Policy Research)聯席主任迪安·貝克(Dean Baker)說，“買賣房產交易費用很高，”因此如果打算購房的話，至少要打算住個四五年才劃算。
The reasoning? The costs for buying and then selling a home -- which can include a real-estate agent's fee, a transfer fee, closing costs, and inspector and surveyor fees -- could add up to about 10% of the sale price, or roughly 1 years worth of rent. 'If you average that over 10 years, it is not that big a deal,' says Mr. Baker. 'But if you average it over, say two years, you're paying an awful lot of money to own a house for a short period of time.'
原因何在呢？買了房子再賣掉所需的費用──包括房產中介費、過戶費、買賣手續費、驗房師和估價師的費用──雜七雜八加在壹起大約是房價的10%，或者大致相當於壹年半的房租。貝克說，“如果妳把這個費用分攤到10年，那就不算什麽大數目，不過如果要分攤到比如兩年，那就意味著，妳要為短時間擁有壹個房子付出很大的價錢。”
Can you handle the monthly expense? While a monthly mortgage payment may be comparable in some cases to a monthly rent, there are other expenses to consider.
每月所需費用妳可以承擔嗎？雖然有些情況下，月供跟妳每月租房的費用差不多，不過買了房子之後，除了月供之外，還會產生其他壹些費用。
To get a feel for the financial burden you'll be taking on -- and to see if you can handle it -- 'practice' making payments. Each month, set aside projected mortgage and property-tax payments, maintenance costs, utilities and any other home-related expenses into a separate savings account, says Gary Smola, a certified financial planner with financial-educational firm Financial Finesse.
要切身體會買房後的經濟負擔──也是為了看看妳能否承擔得起──“演練”壹下每月還款吧。理財教育公司Financial Finesse的註冊理財規劃師加裏·斯莫拉（Gary Smola）說，可以每個月把預期的月供、房產稅、維修費用、公***事業費及其他與房子相關的費用單獨存入壹個賬戶。
What's the price-to-rent ratio? Home prices have come down significantly in some areas of the country, but 'nobody knows what tomorrow's going to bring in the housing market,' says Daniel Morris, a certified public accountant in San Jose, Calif.
房屋租售比如何？加利福尼亞聖何塞的註冊公***會計師丹尼爾·莫裏斯(Daniel Morris)說，在美國有些地區，房產的價格跌得非常厲害，不過“誰也不知道房產市場下壹步走勢如何。”
To determine whether it makes more financial sense to buy or rent in your area, compare home sales prices with the cost of renting a similar place.
要想判斷妳所在地區是買房劃算還是租房劃算，可以將房價與同類房屋的租價做壹個比對。
Divide the price of the home by the total cost of rent for one year. If the result is more than 20, 'I'd be very concerned that the price [of the home] might fall more,' says Mr. Baker, and you should consider waiting to buy. If it's 15 or below, he says, 'you're probably reasonably safe' with prices holding steady or growing.
貝克認為，如果將房價除以壹年的租價得出的結果大於20，“我就會擔心房價極有可能還會再跌，”妳就應該考慮再觀望些時候了。他說，如果結果小於等於15，“買入應該還是相當安全的，”因為房價會保持穩定