Conventional financial wisdom: Buy a condo or house as soon as you can afford it. It's an investment in the future.
Instead: Rent while the trends for housing are still downward, says Christiane S. Delessert of Delessert Financial Services in Waltham, Mass.
Why: Wait until you know for sure if you will stay in the city where you landed your first job, Delessert says. If you decide the job isn't a good fit, you don't want to have to sell that new condo for less than you paid for it.