Rent v buy

Scotbot

I have rented every time between moves as I have always moved long distance. People complain moving twice is a hassle but it's  not, it's  a couple of days out of your life. There can be some advantages, getting to know different areas and the nicest property I have ever lived in was rented, couldn't afford to buy it. . So was the shabbiest when I rented with my dogs, had to comprimise on a shabby property in a reasonable area. 

But if you don't  need to rent now is not the time, it is risky timing the market. It will cool down but who knows when. Better to wait until signs of cooling then sell and rent knowing it will likely cool further.  Markets, both stocks and property, always overshoot people buy when they go up for fear of losing out then dont sell when they go down for fear of losing money

Ramouth

We sold and rented as our purchase fell through and we didn’t want to disrupt our sale (we got a very good price).  It made moving easier and probably made us more attractive buyers.

I would not recommend it though.  The potential loss as prices rise is stressful and to my mind outweighs the potential gain if prices fall.  And then there is the rent money down the drain every month. These become factors in what we were willing to pay to secure our new place so we offered significantly more than we would have if we still owned.