Why Owning Real Estate Can Make You Rich

People who say it's cheaper to rent than own are simply wrong. Under certain circumstances in certain markets (where real estate values are overheated and rents low), there may be some short-term advantages to renting. But over the long haul, renting is simply not a good deal (except for the landlord whose mortgage you are paying). If you don't own your home, you can easily wind up spending more than half a million dollars on rent during the course of a lifetime-probably a lot more. Let's do the math. Say your rent is $1,500. a month. Over 30 years, that would add up to a total of $540,000. in monthly payments! But that's only if your rent never goes up-and whose rent stays the same for 30 years? And if you ever have to move-well forget about it! You will have a mortgage payment, maintenance, taxes, insurance. However it will be yours! (source David Bach)