Should You Buy a Home With a Partner?

When cohabitating, should you buy a home with your partner when you move in together, or keep it noncommittal with a rental? The answer varies from couple to couple.

Cohabitation casualty Rina Welsch, a musician in Columbus, Ohio, spent four years unraveling the tangled mess of having bought a home with her then-boyfriend, Paul, a struggling small business owner.

"It was worse than a divorce because psychologically we had never committed to that," says Welsch. "When the place wouldn't sell we had this terrible break up on our hands and a bad business deal going on at the same time!"

For an unmarried couple buying a home together, Welsch's tale is a cautionary one. However, for every Welsch, there is a Bradley Cooper/Renee Zellwegger story with a $4 million Pacific Palisades home and a happy ending two years later.

So which is it, rent or buy? By answering the following questions together, you can figure out what's best for you: