Trying to decide whether to rent or buy can be an overwhelming decision.

For most, the first few places you live after leaving the nest or college are rentals, either apartments or houses. And they usually involve either one roommate or multiple roommates.

But there comes a time when the lure of putting down roots and buying a house or a condo comes into most everyone’s mind -- not to mention the tax breaks the government gives for buying a home.

Buying a home is obviously a lot different than it was just a few years ago. Columbus and the Chattahoochee Valley have not been immune to the downturn in the economy, which took its toll especially hard on the housing market.

If you can get approved for a mortgage, it is definitely a buyer’s market, i.e., anyone hoping to sell will jump through all kinds of hoops to get you to buy their house.

One such example is the condo complex where I live. Only a few units have sold in the past couple of years -- unless you count the ones the banks foreclosed on then resold for ridiculous prices. One seller is now offering to pay the association fees for a year. That is almost $3,000. (I wish I hadn’t figured that out, I’m feeling a little queasy).

This area has seen an explosion of apartment complexes in the past few years, especially around the Columbus Park Crossing area and just north of that area.

A number of them are upscale apartment complexes with plenty of amenities such as exercise rooms, free high speed Internet and sun decks.

The past decade has also seen a number of buildings in downtown Columbus fixed up and made into either loft apartments or condominiums. Some of them even have a view of the Chattahoochee River, which will have whitewater rafting as some point in the near future.

Except for the tax advantages, I would rather live in one of those fancy apartment complexes. For one thing, if something goes wrong, you can just call the landlord to come fix it.

One such example came a couple of weeks ago when the broiler went out on my stove. If I were renting, I could have called and had the landlord fix it at his cost.

Instead, I had to go to Home Depot and plop down $800 for a new one.

Kevin Price, Ledger-Enquirer sports editor, can be reached at 706-320-4493 or kprice@ledger-enquirer.com