Check out this cool interactive website from the New York Times to help you determine if it's better to buy or rent. CNN just reported that in many places it's become better to buy again, as the rental market is so tight, that rents have gone up. I've seen this in Minneapolis, so if you're on the fence, you may want to give this a look.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html