<prompt> Human: So recently the discussion has come up on whether not me and my girlfriend should move to a new apartment and keep on renting or start moving towards owning a home. We are looking at the possibility of preparing for around a year or so while we look at opportunities. We are both 25 and have two sources of steady income that put us in a combined income of between 110,000 and 130,000 a year. She has student loans and we both have 3 year car loans. I am wondering if it is wise to move forward into owning a home and using our monthy payments to start building equity rather than simply giving that money to a management company? Any thought or request for more information are welcome.  <response>: There is a wonderful link on the side bar about renting vs. owning. Its a simulator developed by the NY Times for exactly this question. 