Buying a home while single vs being married

My girlfriend and I are thinking of moving in together sometime this year and I want to make an informed decision regarding whether to rent or buy a home. Neither of us have owned a home before and our income is limited so that it would be impossible to get married (and pay for a considerable chunk of the wedding) and save for a down payment for a potential home purchase unless we put the whole thing off for another year or two. By the end of the year we'll both be in our 30's with past experience living with ex-spouses/boyfriends so the dating-while-living-apart thing is getting old really quick making waiting that long an unlikely option. Now, apart from the legal protections marriage provides in the event of a breakup (which I'll consider seriously as a separate matter at a later time) what differences should I expect in the areas of mortgages and taxes of single vs married home buying? Would I be subjected to higher interest rates or significantly lower prequalification limits if I'm single? Would I also be subject to the same tax breaks as a single person? To me it would seem those two areas weigh most heavily in the decision to rent vs buy. We've both rented before and, unless there's a compelling reason not to, we'd rather move into a place we intend on staying in for several years rather than rent a temporary place just to go through the hassle of moving again in 2 years when we marry and start a family. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated! by Chris1981 from Howell, New Jersey. Jan 6th 2011 Reply