[hushpuppy]

Yep. It's impossible to give a definitive answer one way or another.

If you want to live in that place for years and years and years then it's kinda dumb not to buy the house.

But if you want to get out of that area once you get your career more established or something like that then just rent.

You can go ahead and stuff your down payment into some bond ETFs or something like that if you don't want to get a house right away. I use Vanguard "inflation protected" ETFs, personally. You won't make a whole lot of money, but if Fed bonds take a huge shit your money isn't going to be worth much anyways. So it's one of the safest place to put it and still have it easily accessible.