<prompt> Human: Im working full-time in software development and am making 75k. Im staying with my parents currently so I have no rent. No debt. I want to move out of my parents house and move into my own place. My natural inclination is to rent since I dont plan on staying here for more than 2 years Id like to get a job outside the state in the near future.But my parents keep insisting I buy because they believe its a win-win situation, i.e. if I buy a house, something below 200k perhaps, 1 I can have a monthly payment that would be cheaper than rent, 2 my money will be saved into the house that I will eventually own and 3 if I dont want to live there, I can simply move out and find tenants to live there and help me pay the mortgage. Ive been combing through the subreddit and understand the multitude of costs that can come with buying a house. Also, with finding tenants. The former I feel that I can deal with, especially if I buy a smaller housecondo. And Im sure my parents would be willing to help with that as well. The latter, I would probably resort to hiring property management services that will take a cut of the rent.My question is, what is the downside to buying instead of renting in this situation? To me it seems that I should buy a small, inexpensive but decent house, fix it up while I live there for the 1 or 2 years that Im here, and then rent it out when I eventually move out. But it seems almost too good to be true; is there something I am missing here?  <response>: Saying that renting is throwing money away and that one should always buy a house is a bit like saying that buying food at the grocery store is throwing money away and that one should always run their own little urban farm to provide sustenance. 