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At a practical level, the rent versus buy argument is best resolved with a calculator. Try our Rent vs Buy Calculator.

• Home ownership is best known as the American Dream. People leave their home countries to come here for the opportunity to own their own home. It is deep in the soul of our citizens to take on the pride of home ownership and this is cited by many as the number one reason to buy a home. Can you think of anyone whose spirit doesn't swell with pride when they can tell their parents and friends that they are buying a house? Did you really think that a house warming party is just for the knick-knacks?
• Home ownership is the number one way to build wealth in the United States and I'm sure it's not bad way to do it anywhere else either. Where many other investments return 3 and 5 percent and face the potential for total loss, an investment in real estate tends to appreciate year after year except in very rare and very localized situations. Investments that are this safe tend to have very low rates of return. Your home can return 5, 7 and 10% per year. Even conservatively 27% after 5 years is not uncommon. Take a look at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight reports on the changes in house values accross the country here.
• The deduction for mortgage interest also puts money back into your pocket. It's best to talk with an accountant or tax person to know just how much this will mean to you. Even if it's not that much, it's certainly more than you get back on your rent from your landlord.
• Likewise, poperty taxes are also a deduction on your income taxes.
• Should the need ever arise, you can consolidate other debts using the equity you have built up in your home. The interest that had previously been money tossed out the window will be A) less: mortgage interest rates tend to be much much lower than credit card rates and B) tax deductable because it's now part of the interest you pay on your home. Again, your tax advisor will be able to run the exact numbers for you but if in the past you paid $10,000 in interest on your credit during the year. Putting that debt under your home's interest deduction means you get credit back for 28% or more depending on your tax bracket. That's $2,800 you didn't have before that now stays in your pocket.
• If you buy with a fixed rate mortgage, then your monthly housing expense is stable year after year. Rents tend to rise 3 - 5% per year in most markets.
• Even if your rental payments are always on time, if your landlord decides not to renew your lease, your moving. You don't have control.

On the other hand, certain circumstances may make renting the right way to go, for example:

• In some areas, housing prices are atronomical while rents are still reasonable.
• Renter's insurance is about 1/10th the cost of home owner's insurance.
• Some folks are not yet settled or are in jobs that require a lot of moving around. If your employer can help defray expenses and losses associated with buying and selling homes, great. Otherwise, the ability to pick up and move on eith little notice or prepration my be the flexibility you need.
• Even in the best of situations, sometimes things break down. As a home owner, the expense is yours. As a renter, the landlord - if they are good, ethical people or a corporation with plenty of resources, picks up the tab and you don't even have to miss work to wait for the repair man.

To really determine if buying makes good financial sense, work with our calculators to not only work up a monthly house payment you can feel confortable with, but also to compare the specific advantages and consequenses of buying versus renting click here.