sdrealtor wrote: I have a hard time seeing that happen. I bought my house in late 1998 and put 20% down. With excellent credit my rate was around 8%. My monthly PITI + HOA was significantly more than rent Pre-tax I spent about $10,000 more per year. After tax assuming a 37% marginal tax bracket I was slightly ahead.

Why do you have a hard time seeing that happen when that was exactly what happened in your case? Of course you’ll take the tax benefit into account when comparing the costs of rent vs. buy. You bought when it was cheaper (or at least almost the same) as renting, all things considered, using reasonable financing with 20% down. Those days will return, but we’re going to have to wait until all of the big spenders have exhausted their HELOC money. Also, was 1998 the bottom? I thought it was more like 1995.