Home ownership or rent?

[alpha_glamourina]

Absolutely!  In addition to the physical benefits, owning property has emotional, intellectual and even spiritual benefits too.  It's a pleasantly surprising "bonus" when you begin experiencing those aspects of ownership. 

[voltopt]

That connected, vested feeling of buying into a community is nice.

Having the freedom, however financially inane, to leave when you want is equally nice.

[aknowledgeableperson]

If my wife and I rented all this time we would not be in the situation we are now - no mortgage or rent payments since the living quarters are paid for.

But each situation is different and voltopt sums it up the best.  If you are going to make the commitment and put down roots then buying is the way to go.  On the otherhand, if you are not sure about the future - job, living arrangements, etc. - then renting is the best.

[schugg]

Absolutely!  In addition to the physical benefits, owning property has emotional, intellectual and even spiritual benefits too.  It's a pleasantly surprising "bonus" when you begin experiencing those aspects of ownership.   

Until your furnace shoots craps.

[alpha_glamourina]

Or AC.  This summer one of the Central Air units began failing us (we have zoned heating & cooling in our home), and that was a huge inconvenience.  Still, it was ours to deal with and we didn't have to wait around for the property managers to hire someone to fix it.  Of course I'd rather not deal with mechanical problems, but generally speaking, I'm okay with it when my troubles are mine- that way, it's totally up to me how they'll be resolved. 

[Jess]

chrizow's comments about commitment are spot on, at least for me.  I don't plan on buying until I'm more or less permanently someplace.  I'm not in a personal place right now where I can definitively say that "this is where I'm going to be, for the long term," ("this" being this area, this city, etc.).  I don't plan on owning property anywhere until I've decided I'm settling in. Right now, paying rent is a decent tradoff for a temporary place to live that I can easily walk away from at essentially any time.  Ultimately, where I'm originally from (or somewhere very similar and/or close to it) will probably be where I settle. Kansas City is a temporary stopping point that I'm enjoying for now; it's where my relationship has taken me for the time being, and it's where I have a job.  I love it, but it ain't home. I don't need to buy somewhere that's not home.