When it comes to the classic question of whether to buy or rent a home, it’s important to recognize one thing. That one idea is that the answer is not the same for every person at every point in time. Historically, there have even been better (and worse!) times to rent and better times to own. There are many important questions to ask oneself, but key among those is, ‘what is the consensus?’ More often than not, the widely agreed upon consensus is incorrect. That’s because if everyone agrees on something, that’s most likely because it’s been going that way for a long time. As history has shown, when things go a certain way for a long time, it’s a good idea to start anticipating the next change.

Besides that basic concept of mass psychology, there are dozens of considerations that will help to determine if your situation is best served by renting or owning. One important consideration following the recent housing market meltdown is based on your observations. Is the housing market near you still showing signs of being wobbly? Nationally, it is so, but you may be in a rare pocket where prices have firmed and purchasing demand is on the rise. If so, you might be well served to be a buyer at this time.

But with nationwide house prices still continuing to show serious signs of wobbling, you might want to rent for a year or two before committing to a house purchase. Renting is unglamorous, but so too is being upside down on one’s mortgage! Take your assessment of the market’s present position much more seriously than any consensus.