Rent or buy

@Future mom,

If you can, I'd say buy because then you're investing in your future. Houses are relatively cheap right now.. Buying is for life, renting means you're paying the housing association, whereas with renting they do the maintenance..

You'll have to weigh everything yourself and then make the right decision..

How many months pregnant are you?

Greetings Ju or maybe Mavan Mi

We have a house we own. Municipal costs are indeed more expensive for us with a home purchase.
But it’s ours.
My parents live in a rental apartment.
The housing association doesn’t do much maintenance there.
Good luck with your decision.

@FutureMom,

I'm not sure if you live in the Netherlands or in Belgium..
So for the Netherlands, whether you currently live in a house you own or rent, you pay the same for gas, water, and electricity.
I don't know how it works in Belgium if you live there..
Oh, 5 months then you're past the halfway point, hold on tight, a little miracle..
You also pay municipal taxes, and you do that in both an owned and a rented house...
But it's possible that you're entitled to housing benefit if you live in the Netherlands and rent with housing subsidy..
But anyway, those are all things you need to think through carefully...
Moving costs around (3000 to 4000 euro estimate) if you want everything new, maybe even more expensive..
So save up nicely...and let choice be a sensible one that's good for both of you, I mean the three of you..
Enjoy yourself and talk soon..
And keep asking questions, it's very important that you ask because otherwise you won't know..

Greetings Ju or maybe MavanMi
Of course a very good one

@FutureMom,

Congratulations on your pregnancy .
MavanMi writes above that moving costs 3000-4000 euros.. This doesn't have to be the case.. We moved from a rental apartment to a house we bought, the only thing we had to pay for was renting a truck to get all our stuff in.. And of course we bought some things, but you can perfectly do that after a few years. We did everything ourselves, if you're pregnant you're not allowed to lift anymore, but you can certainly help with putting the cabinets back together.. And let the men lift, we were 8.. our parents and brothers helped. And for a truck, keep your eyes open, don't go to those big companies, there you pay directly much more than with a small company.
We live in Belgium, our municipal taxes have increased and our home insurance too, but we live bigger than before. So we also pay more for water, gas and electricity because we consume more. My tip, if you can save about the same from your rent for the moment, you can safely buy your own house. Our loan is double what we paid for rent. Other fixed costs remain the same, the food you eat doesn't change by moving . Renting is good, as an interim solution, as a start.. But we would never want to do it our whole lives. Buying is for yourself, renting is for someone else.
Hopefully you find it useful and figure it out. It's a financial leap you're making, sometimes a risk, but a well-considered risk rarely goes wrong!