Readers suggested a topic on the pros and cons of owning a home. "Anybody out there who will never buy a house no matter how cheap it gets? I had a mortgage broker send me a GFE for a loan on a place I was fairly interested in (severely discounted) and when I looked at the list of fees, charges, taxes, etc. it just clicked. I don’t want the hassle, the commitment, etc. You can always find someone who will rent to you long term. I’ve never had any trouble. Today, I can’t say that I will ever buy anything."

One replied, "I own my home, and love it. My mortgage payment is less than comparable rent, even more so after mortgage deduction is taken into account, so financially it has also been a good decision."

"Even if/when my house loses 20-30% of its 'value' I’ll still be happy with the purchase, because it is still 'worth' losing that money to me."

"However, I would never buy if it didn’t make economic sense. (like in my hometown of SF, which is why I moved away in the first place). If I were renting right now, I, too, would hold off on buying at least until it were sensible to do so."

"There are pros and cons to every decision. Right now in most markets the cons to buying a home far outweigh the pros."

Another said, "I agree that owning has intangibles that make it far superior to renting. That said, we are still looking for the right house here in the Phoenix area and have not taken the plunge. Good housing is now comfortably within our price range but we are very particular and are still looking. Inventory levels are huge and still rising."

A long time owner said, "As a current owner I have to agree. There are enough advantages to owner/occupation that prices will, someday adjust to a point where it makes economic sense for those who live for say, a decade at one address. Keep in mind that for many of us who bought pre-bubble, our mortgage is LESS than equivalent rent. Purchasing a house with a conventional mortgage serves to severly limit inflation of one’s housing costs."

"As for renting being equivalent to 'throwing money away' well, that’s no more true for renting than buying groceries. It is spending money on a consumable item. If you think that the housing that you’re renting is worth the rent that you’re paying, the money is hardly being 'thrown away.' Now paying more than equivalent rent for interest only loan on a depreciating asset, THAT’S 'throwing money away.'"

One from Illinois. "I am a fairly happy homeowner. Bought in ‘93 in the exburbs of Chicago for 198K, 3/2.5. If prices are reasonable it makes sense, but now??? I agree 110% that renting would be the way to go today. Even if I had $400K +, I refuse to throw that kind of dough into RE, I can do much better job investing in equities."

One replied, "When you deduct maintenance and property taxes from the annual rent, owning looks like an even worse use of money."

"Considering the aging (pre- and post- WWII) housing stock of Nassau Co. NY (the western 1/3 of Long Island, NY), you have maintenance of at least 1% of value annually, property taxes approaching 2% annually. Prices of 20x annual rent (that’s being generous with the rent and assuming no vacancy) implies 5% annual return, or 2% net."

"2% net return on a depreciating asset?!? Where do I sign?!?"

To which was posted, "I’m not sure that looking at asset appreciation gives you the real return. The main return is housing. The value of the housing goes up as equivalent rents go up. Ten years on, the house may have just kept up with inflation, but if your equivalent rent has gone up, the returns that ownership give you have gone up. Much of the value of owning is locking in a nearly (Taxes, maintenance, and insurance still go up) fixed price for housing. There is little advantage to locking in historically high prices."

One from California said, "I’ve had one great landlord (stayed with her for 10 yrs) and a dozen terrible ones. Buying for me means not having to deal with the people that prey on students and staff in Davis."

"As soon as something comes along that balances the rent/buy, we’re buying. The city is ok and I can adapt to anything. I just know how bad the economic sh!tstorm that is loaming on the CA horizon is going to be and I want to be in good place (like 1 mi from work) to weather it."

And lastly, "I used to dream about owning my own home but no more. I rent quite happily now, it made it a lot easier to move when we wanted to relocate."

"I think the stress of watching prices in the northeast, where I used to live, go parabolic (and now reversing) and looking at all the jerks who want me to fund their lifestyle/retirement by buying their overpriced and undermaintained POS houses just snapped something in my head. If I want to own Real Estate I will just buy REIT shares in a tax deferred account someday."