According to Apartments.com, what's motivating more than half of renters (55 percent) to move in 2008 are relocating for a job and reducing the cost of rent.

Only seven percent are moving to buy a home.

Ruh-oh.

Last year's buyer-seller survey from the National Association of Realtors says that 41 percent of homebuyers were previous renters.

Seventy-five percent of first-time homebuyers were renters. That's huge, because 39 percent of home-buyers are first-timers.

That's a huge gap between 7 percent intending to buy a home and 41 percent following through. Wonder what's holding this year's renters back from buying?

The news in jobs isn't great.

The unemployment rate rose to 5 percent in December. A year ago, the rate was 4.5 percent. And it appears to be getting worse. New unemployment claims filings jumped to 69,000 last week, the highest number in two years.

That could mean more people will migrate in search of better jobs this year. If so, where will they go?

Forbes.com has ranked the best cities for employment in 2008, where a whopping 5 out of the top 20 were in Texas.

The top ten were ranked according to median income, unemployment, income growth, cost of living and job growth:

1. Salt Lake City

2. Wichita, Kansas

3. Austin, Texas

4. Atlanta, Georgia

5. Fort Worth, Texas

6. Indianapolis, Indiana

7. Houston, Texas

8. Omaha, Nebraska

9. Raleigh, North Carolina

10. Seattle, Washington

Now, if renters want cheap rents, where are the best places to live. Once again, Forbes does the math for its top 10, using vacancy rates, new-construction projects and job growth.

Here are their findings:

1. Columbus, Ohio

2. Indianapolis, Ind.

3. Kansas City, Mo.

4. San Antonio, Texas

5. Cincinnati, Ohio

6. Saint Louis, Mo.

7. Cleveland, Ohio

8. Houston, Texas

9. Dallas, Texas

10. Salt Lake City, Utah

Hmm. The lists don't seem to correspond. The only city to make both lists were Houston and Salt Lake City.

So, clearly, renters can't have it all. To get it all, they need to drill down to what will produce the greatest quality of life, and that's more than jobs and cheap rents. It could be buying a home.

Here are Entrepreneur Magazine's Top Four Cities To Buy A Home

1. Killeen, Round Rock, Austin, Texas

2. Mission Viejo, California

3. Palm Beach, Florida

4. Las Vegas, Nevada

Seventy-five percent of homebuyers in 2007 between the ages of 18 and 24 purchased a home because they wanted to own a home of their own.

Published: February 8, 2008

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.