Comment by chrisco255

Renting an apartment vs owning a house is not necessarily a bad financial move. Depends on a number of factors. For instance, if you anticipate moving within a certain time frame, between closing costs, mortgage fees, commission, etc...it can cost more to own in the first 3-5 years, especially if prices are stagnant. Also, there are hidden costs of home ownership not necessarily factored in for, like repairs, maintenance, etc that are just implicitly included in rent. Finally, one can use the savings from paying rent to invest in the stock market and generally get a higher return than real estate.