I wouldn't really go with this option, I know someone who did this and although it sounds like a perfect scheme you pay a mortgage and rent!

Although late I would definitely buy if possible - I still regret waiting so long. However you don't want everything you earn to go into a mortgage. If you are just starting out, think about what you can miss per month on rent/mortgage, utilities, insurance and food and work from there. The upside of renting is that usually your rent covers utilities and if something goes wrong you have a landlord to fix it. If you are smart though, you will try and save if you do decide to rent just to build up capital when you can and want to buy.