Personally, I would never rent but that is just me. I refuse to pay somebody elses mortgage off for them, when I could pay off my own & have an asset / equity in the end. I know when we were looking to buy (took us about 18 mths to find something) that we got about 80% of what was on our dream list/wish list. Unless we were to build, we weren't going to get everything we wanted, so your option two is what suits me personally. Gl with your decision