Buying now in most of America is not a good idea.

Do you realize how expensive most cities are now, especially on the Midwestern and Northeast coasts? I cannot fucking understand huge cities like New York, Chicago, etc., that's just unthinkable to me.

Buying is nice, make no mistake about it. But it must be at the right price and under the right circumstances. The current devastation in the U.S. economy is due, in part, to not taking price and situation into account. What's wrong with just renting for life, especially if you're in a city where owning is absurdly costly and out of the question but renting is still reasonable?

When you rent you put in money that you can't get back. You are paying for a service. Once you move out, all the money you have put into renting is gone, you can't get any of it back. Renting won't stay reasonable for long. (Surely there are cheap condos around?) When you buy, you are making an investment, money you can get back or grow in the future. The big advantage to owning is that you can get most/ all/ more than what you paid back. If you own property the money you put into it is an investment. At the end of it, you can sell your house and get money back and even make money if you are fortunate.

Renting is a perfectly fine option. If the rent is reasonable, you'll avoid many of the expenses of home ownership, plus you are free to move anywhere you like. Home ownership comes with a mortgage payment, taxes, upkeep, insurance, maintenance, etc. In a good tenant/ landlord arrangement, you pay rent, utilities and it’s a good idea to buy renters insurance (super cheap and worth every penny). Leave the upkeep and headache to the landlord/ owner. Of course there is always the chance the landlord will not renew your lease. Or, he sells out, or he gets foreclosed on.

Owning a house is the only thing that you can put effort into and making a profit, well a big one at least. Remodeling, and reselling and all that jazz, but you will always love knowing that it’s yours. (Of course you have to realize that then you are responsible for property tax, lawn/ house maintenance.) Some might say residential real estate is not an investment. The return on housing is commensurate with the rate of inflation. Housing will continue to fall barring continued, extensive intrusion on the part of the government after the most recent housing bubble. You might realize a capital gain in the event of a bubble or if the surrounding area develops enough to increase the local economy and drive up real estate prices.

This talk about throwing money away by renting, you are doing roughly the same thing with buying when you have to pay interest, property taxes, maintenance, and fees (such as homeowner association fees). Renting means you do not have to pay those fees and that free cash flow could be put into true investments that give you a better return over inflation than residential real estate. Don’t get a low ass mortgage you will never be able to pay off. Buy something you can afford to pay off in 5-10 years, if that long…