<prompt> Human: why is it not economical to buy a condo as opposed to paying rent for an apartment? My thinking is that if you buy a condo or house and sell it within 5 years for at least the price you bought it for, that you would not have lost as much if you rented that entire time. i obviously havent gone through the process and curious to hear your thoughts and insights on this. Hope this made sense. thanks in advance for your response. id be happy to clarify.some assumptions:-stable income, but no plans to stay at the place for more than 5 years-willing to deal with the stress of selling and finding a place to live right after. also willing to deal with moving stress-rent mortgage, tax, HOA, fees, and etc combined-market conditions are stable and you can sell your place at the price you paid  <response>: 5 years is enough time for something expensive inonaround a condo to break, and not enough time to recoup the cost of paying for whatever it was through rent savings.Dont forget the very large amount you lose to realtor fees when you sell.And the local housing market is not at all guaranteed to stay stable or rise in the short term. It is more likely in the long term. 