To buy a house sooner rather than later?

[AllonsyAlonso]

I live in America, (I am British). I have been here for some time in a rental property. I would like to buy a house, I have the deposit saved, but here's the thing. If you do not put down 20% as a deposit, you have to take out an extra insurance which would mean our mortgage would be $500 more each month. However it would probably take us an extra 12 months to save a greater deposit and I can't stand where we are living now. Our landlord is impossible and never fixes anything, the house is shabby and very very cold. The rent is relatively cheap though and the mortgage would be a lot higher. What would be the best thing to do? Stay put in our miserable rental and save? Or move immediately even though it would be more expensive?

Rent somewhere better for a year and continue to save.

We did think of that, but rental prices in our area are really high, so we wouldn't really save. Our house is only cheap because it is practically falling down around us! I also don't really want the hassle of moving twice in one year.

If you can suck it up for a year I'd stay and save $500 it's a lot to save every month.