The New "What did you do with your Z today" (with off topic replies) XV

JARblue

Mortgage vs rent is the better choice in almost every scenario if your budget allows for it and you plan to live there at least 5 years. The loans are typically front loaded to pay off the interest, so the longer you stay the more you pay towards principal, building equity. At $1000/mon in rent, you lose $60K in 5 years. You're going to be hard pressed to buy a house and take that much of a loss in the same period of time. I know the numbers are more complicated, but the simple fact is renting has 0 chance for equity. The people that lose their a$$ on housing are typically people who are living above their means and bought a house they couldn't afford (no thanks to the banks selling those loans).

Also, we live in Austin. Housing in Austin is different from housing elsewhere. There was virtually no effect on the market in Austin when the $hit hit the fan a few years ago. I know because we purchased our house in March 2009. It is nearly always a seller's market here. I can't wait to sell our house. I'm not looking forward to buying lol

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