Originally Posted by
CACycling
This depends on whether you are talking current costs or long-term costs. It may be cheaper to rent short-term but rents will rise. Maybe not for several years but they will eventually go up. A fixed-rate mortgage stays constant. There will be some increase in taxes, insurance and maintenance, but these increases are typically fairly minor in the overall picture. And at some point, the mortgage payment disappears. If you look at monthly costs over a couple of decades, owning can make economic sense. And if the property appreciates, all the better.
Actually I counsel to do the calculation over 20 years even though, historically, people only live in their houses for about six years. However, from what I can tell that may well change with the expected economy over the next several years. Also, a person needs to put some value on freedom to change locations to take advantage of better career opportunities.
From what I can see where we are is where we will be unless our government is willing to squeeze the pimple now before it gets infected and causes more damage. We are in a global economy, like it or not. The sooner we face up to the pain of restructuring and get on with business the sooner we will share in the pleasures of the future.