How many of you have used rent vs own calculators? Seems like renting might be the best option for a lot of scenarios especially if you're making 7% on other investments.

You rent when you want to be mobile. Rent is what you pay in exchange for being able to pull up stakes with 30 days' notice-- or you know you're only going to be in an area for two or three years, so you don't want to tie up six figures' worth of your money in real estate that you know you won't want in four or five years.

You buy when you're stable and settled, you've got a steady job, your education is behind you, and you're looking at 20 or 30 years of showing up to your job, growing your family, or just living your life.

Deanna TX 2nd paragraph is totally wrong for an Entrepreneur in my book looking at RE.

Never used one of those calculators. There are too many personal factors that come into play with one's personal residence to say what is "the best option." Best in terms of what: making money? having a solid basis for where you're living (i.e. the land lord can't non-renew your lease next month)? Able to hang pictures on the wall without wondering if your LL considers that property damage?

From a strictly financial standpoint, I think there are still a lot of variables. Some markets rent is cheaper than owning. Some price points are the same. Example: a buddy of mine owned a home in a $400K neighborhood, which in my town is a NICE home. Not quite a McMansion, but think 6 bedrooms, 5000 sq ft, 3-car garage, walk out basement, wet bar, manicured lawn and a small in ground pool. His next door neighbor had to move quickly and couldn't sell the house right away, so they tried to rent it. Best they could get is $2,000 / month. There simply isn't a lot of market in my town for high dollar home rentals. The mortgage alone on a $400K house at 80% LTV and 4% for a 30 year term is $1,500 /month. Plus taxes and insurance...add another $500 - $700. HOA fees, pool maintenance...I'd say those owners were losing between $500 - $1000 / month just to avoid having to pay a full mortgage + T&I. You certainly can't BUY a home like that in my town and expect to spend less than $2,000/month. But you can rent them easily. So in that case, renting makes sense if you want that degree of luxury without paying top dollar.

By contrast, my little $30,000 cheapie Class C homes rent for $600/month. Obviously, you could buy one of those for a payment of barely $120/month. Far less luxury and amenities, but in terms of ROI, you're doing GREAT! But do you want to live in a $30K home?

Myob, I grew up military, so perhaps my upbringing was more mobile than some other people's! :)

Someone who was less debt-averse, and was more open to selling RE when it became cumbersome to manage would definitely do well to start early! I agree! :) But we did things the cautious way-- because buying property definitely ties you to a geographic area, and when you're young-- figuring out who you're going to marry, where you're going to live, what you're going to do, and how you're going to afford what you want to do-- is complicated enough, and big chunks of your excess money often go into household goods/cars/student debt/entertainment that more established adults have to worry less about acquiring. :)

If we had started earlier, I know we would have failed-- because it's our personal savings that bails out the biz in an emergency, especially in the early years. But that's not to say that other people couldn't have succeeded-- I'm sure they could have.

Owning your own house ties up money, and requires your time to maintain.

It does provide some stability. But, when you need to move it slows you down.

Deanna what a great life and story you have to SUCCESS....

It's too bad renting in this country is not like leasing a car. With leasing a car, I can pick ANY car that I could buy, or have it custom built from the factory.