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Where I live rent is just as expensive as buying (for comparable living accommodations). I have a buddy that has never owned a day in his life -- although with the many programs available these days he certainly could have--. I on the other hand have owned five homes since I was 23 (now 38) and have rolled so much equity and purchased two new vehicles for $110,000 cash. On top of that, I save thousands each year in taxes due to the mtg deduction and r/e taxes paid. Please tell me how in the world you could do that even if you were able to save $400-500/month in renting vs buying (mortgaging).

On top of everything else I have my current home on a 20 year pay out which will provide me an asset of CONSERVATIVELY in the $1.2MM-1.5MM range (valued at $965,000 today)in 2025.

No one will ever be able to convince me that renting is a good thing........unless you are moving state to state every couple of years.

I was not advocating renting, merely stating that a house is a liability as long as you have a mortgage on it. If you do sell it and make a capital gain, at that point it is an asset but before that point it is a financial liability. The tax laws and the ability to convert it into an asset makes it the best kind of liability to have.

Please tell me how in the world you could do that even if you were able to save $400-500/month in renting vs buying (mortgaging).

By putting the money saved by renting into a small business instead. the 22-year old Mark Zuckerberg just turned down a $1.6 BILLION offer from Yahoo to sell Facebook.com. He rents. If he could not afford the hosting fees for the web site at first because he was spending all his money on a mortgage instead of rent oh yeah in 30 years he might have close to a million dollars in equity too if he made all the right moves. But he went from being a college student in debt to owning a $1.6 BILLION asset in just two years by putting his money and effort into a small business (that is not so small anymore).