Good points Doug,

But you also have to take into account where in the country you are. In Hartsville, SC, an apartment costs me about $550/mo. I am buying a 1500 sq ft house in good condition (new septic system, new heating and AC, roof is only 6 yrs old) for $92,500. I locked in my interest rate at 4.625% for a 30 year mortgage and paid 5% down. My payment comes to $633/mo including insurance, PMI and property tax. I'm not going to add in utilities, because I'd have to pay them in an apartment anyway. We'll add $67/mo for upkeep and make it an even $700.

So I take my roughly $5000 and start an investment account that will return 4.625% annual interest compounded monthly. Add that extra $150 I'm "saving" each month by not paying my mortgage. Now subtract the between $3000 and $4000 that I get to deduct from my taxes for the first 15 years. If I'm in a 15% tax bracket, that ends up about $525 less taxes.

Here's where I am at the end of 30 years. If I rent I end up with a grand total of $114,319.65 in my investment account. Not only do I not own a house, but I don't even have enough to buy the house that I bought before due to appreciation.

If I buy, I own a house. In addition, my area is fortunate enough to enjoy 3.49% housing appreciation right now. At the end of 30 years at that rate, my house is worth $258,876.92. We'll deduct $10,000 for major improvements and expenses outside the normal maintenance over the years, and call it $248,876.92 I also get to decorate any way that I'd like, tear down a wall if I don't like it anymore (did that two weekends ago), run network cabling through the walls, have my chocolate lab as an inside dog (who as an added bonus, has half an acre to play in the back yard.)

In my situation, I'd be an idiot not to buy.