Should I buy a house?

[dvs112]

I recently got engaged and plan on getting a place with my fiance in August. I've been working for a large software company for a year after graduating college and I've been contributing to my 401k and putting a little money in savings.

Basically, we don't want to live in an apartment (rent would be about $900/mo). I've looking into renting a place like a town house or a stand-alone house and that rent seems to be in the $1k+/mo range. I looked at what sort of rates I could get (via the internet, haven't been approved) and if I take out a mortgage for $250k, it's about $1400/month.

I'd likely have to get private mortgage insurance as well, since I don't have much money in savings for a down payment. My credit is ok. I have a payment for a car I financed last year (400/mo). I have a couple thousand balance on my credit card that I can pay off, but I don't know whether or not it would be better to carry the balance and have more for a down payment.

At my job right now, I'll make about $65k this year (should be getting promotion/raise next week, but I don't want this to be a deciding factor). If we got a house, we would probably stay there for at least 4 years. My fiance is trying to find a teaching job in the area and now she works at the school, but only makes about $1800/mo.

I feel like renting is going to be almost as much as buying a place and that by buying, I get a number of benefits, like deducting mortgage related costs and having an asset, rather than giving money to someone else every month.

What's my play here?