Q. Although I only owe about $8,000 from college, my credit score is poor, at just over 600. Right now I am making $70,000 a year and can realistically expect to reach $90,000 in five years and $100,000 in 10 years. I pay $1,000 a month for rent and am tired of throwing away $12,000 a year with nothing to show at the end. Recently, I've been looking into "rent-to-buy" options and one has come up that will lock in the home's purchase price at $635,000. I'll pay $2,600 a month with $1,000 of that going toward either the price of the home or the down payment. I could rent the other two rooms out and bring my rental costs to $866 per month while increasing my credit score to qualify for a better loan. But home prices in my area are expected to drop over the next 30 months, making me nervous about locking a purchase price now. How do I determine whether I will be better off paying a low rent somewhere while the market drops and my credit rises, or I invest that money now and risk unrealized savings?

A.We are not big fans of rent-to-buy deals because most are just schemes to generate income from a home the owner simply can't sell. Ask yourself: Why would the owner offer a deal like this if he or she didn't have to? In the end, very few renters who sign-up for such options go on to buy the house.

We have other concerns, as well. The first one is the price of the home. You are locking into a price that might be more than the home is worth in three years or even four, which is a normal rent-to-own period. No one should buy a home for more than it is worth. And, to be honest, a $635,000 home is really more than you can afford on a $90,000 or even $100,000 salary.

Granted, you make good money, but not enough to buy a home that costs six times what you hope to be making in 10 years. At 6.5% interest, your monthly principal and interest payment on a $600,000 loan would be $3,800. Then you would have to tack on insurance and property taxes, which would probably boost your total monthly costs to around $4,250.

Why not continue renting, pay off your student loan and start saving for a down payment?

First, be sure that you are contributing enough to your employer's 401(k) retirement plan that you qualify for any matching funds. That's the equivalent of getting a raise.

Then take whatever you can spare and put your savings in a high-yield money market account, CDs or a Roth IRA -- another type of retirement account that allows earnings to grow tax-free and contributions to be withdrawn without penalty.

During that time you can put our 6 smart moves to raise your credit score to work.

If we haven't dissuaded you, and you still want to rent-to-own, there are two things you must do. First, have the property thoroughly checked out by a reliable building inspector. And second, have a real estate attorney read the contract and make sure it's as reasonable as possible.

Whether you're buying a home or refinancing an existing mortgage, we have a mortgage calculator that can help you make the right decisions.