I am attending college here in Columbus Ohio USA working on my Master's degree in Nursing (MSN)?

I am going to school fulltime and working part-time.I inherited money from my deceased father and was wondering whether to use $220,000 dollars to buy a 2 bedroom 1250 square feet condo or keep it invested in Abbott Laboratories stock??? I currently rent $675/month but my building is being sold and I'm sure they will raise the rent.Would i do better by keeping it invested or buying a place with no mortgage payment.

It depends on your long-term goals and comparing the returns from your stock investment. Condo's tend to increase in value slower than houses but if you see yourself living in the condo for more than 5-6 year, I say buy the condo. When it comes to selling it, you won't be subjected to the capital gains taxes like what you will incur when you sell the stocks. If your plan is to move away sooner than later, I suggest you keep renting and find a better performing stock. The bottom line is that you should find a good local Realtor who can help you crunch the numbers.

Buy a place, but be sure to get a good deal. It's hard for a novice to get a good deal. Get lots of advice from experienced real estate people you trust.

Don't pay any attention to impending real estate crashes. They're always impending. If the market does crash, that just means you have to wait a few years to sell, if you happen to want to sell. Otherwise it makes very little difference to you anyway.

Be sure not to ever get involved in mortgage scams. If you own it outright, you will always be tempted to get a HELOC or some other type of mortgage to take advantage of your equity. But a lot of those are scams, so you have to aways be careful about that kind of stuff.

Cost of ownership is higher...Try to consider buying a house that has 2 or 3 apartments of 3 bedrooms each lease them to other students pays off the mortgage.