Is it a good idea or bad idea for me to buy a house?

This may be kind of long, so I apologize ahead of time.

Ok, basically, I’m contemplating buying a house. I know the market for buyers is probably never going to be much better than it is now. So whereas normally I may not even be considering this right now, the cost savings are too much for me to just ignore.

But it’s not so cut and dry. I am currently working a job that I do not intend to stay at long term. It was meant to be that first transition/experience job out of college that I worked at for 1–2 years before moving onto something more in the field I want to work in (I’m an analytical chemist, I want to be a Forensic scientist). Well I’ve worked here almost 3 years now. I’ve applied for several jobs more towards my eventual field in the last year, interviewed for a few even, but not got them. At the moment I’m kind of “stuck” in my current city as I moved in with my g/f back in May and we signed a one year lease. The prospect of staying in this city for a year didn’t really bother me cuz I didn’t want to have too many life changes at once (moving in and a new job, etc). Also as much as I don’t want to do my current job for a long time, I should be so lucky to have such an awesome “filler” job. Pay and benefits rock, flexible hours, nice staff, etc….

It’s also very important to point out that I have over 100k in debt from student loans. I have the money to afford the monthly bill on those (~$950), and still enough for rent, car payment, etc. I also have a near flawless payment history on those five student loans (never having missed, only twice having been late) as well as flawless payments on a few credit cards and whatnot over the years. But I do have well over 100k to may name in debt (when you throw in the car).

What turned me onto the idea was my older brother. He lived in this town too and about a year ago got his first house. He makes a fair amount more than I and has far less debt so I figured he just had enough money to pay the mortgage payments which were surely high. Well a few months ago he got a new job out of state and offered to rent me his house so he didn’t have to deal with selling it or renting it from out of state to a stranger. His mortgage payment on the moderate-sized house with a two car garage was less than my rent for my almost 700 square foot apartment. If I could get a mortgage for a similar monthly price, I could very easily afford it, without even taking into account that I would likely have a room mate in my g/f (or if things ended up not working out between us I would get a room mate).

The real catches mostly involve my career. If I land a job out of town (which is the likelihood if I pursue that Forensics career and want it to start moving soon [there are few such jobs in my area]), then I’ll be stuck with this house and the same problem my brother had… can I/do I sell it, or do I try to rent it out from a distance (possibly having a 3rd party/company do it for me). Also, though I could afford the payments quite readily, is there some hidden financial issue I’m not seeing here with my already outstanding debt and incurring this new debt?

Sorry that’s so mixed up, hopefully you guys were able to follow it. What do you think?