<prompt> Human: Renting vs buying is atleast 15 years before you break even. It is all cool and all to have your own house but there are other things that should include the calculation. The distance to work is pretty important. The further away the more gas, wear and tear, ... costs for your car. You could buy a house close to your work but who works at the same place for an entire life? By renting you can move anywhere pretty fast and you can look for a job pretty much anywhere. If you had a house you need to stay in a radius from your house. So unless you dont need a loan for a house renting is a better option? I am young and still live with my parents so I dont know how reality is really. Thoughts?  <response>: Depends on the situation and market causes.1st property: I only owned 3 years and did the calculation buyingsellingtaxesinterestrepair costs versus renting. Small town so drive was less than 1 mile from where I would have rented. Ended up with a nicer place to live house versus apartment at a lower monthly cost House: 350mo, Rent: 580mo. So I was way better to have bought for those 3 years. Thank you 2002-2005 housing boom.2nd Property: I have been here about 5.5 years, so would have paid 66K in rent on an apartment. I have only paid about 50K in expenses on the house buyinginterestrepairsetc. So again, appears I will turn out ahead. House has only increased 1-2yr so slower growth this time but still good. Basically is matching the rule of thumb that you should buy if you plan to stay longer than 5 years.In general long term you are better to own. Landlords dont rent to be nice to society, they do it to make money. As such renting will always include all the same costs as owning plus some profit for the landlord. That being said, sometimes markets get messed up and it is cheaper to rent for a short time period than buy we wont get into rent controlled markets, but I guarantee you that it is only a short time as at some point landlords will either increase rent to cover those costs or go out of business.Where most people go wrong is that they buy to much place and the comparison is not apples to apples. For example a single person who rents would select a 1 bed room apartment near work neighborhood might not be the best and most likely made the decision trying to minimize monthly outlay. That same person when buying will require a nicer area and 3 bed2 bath house. Even with the increase in property values of the nicer area, there are many 20-30 year time periods you just cant get the math to show that buying is better. Of course in this case you cant put a number on the difference in quality of living. For families with kids, school district usually require them to live in the same area whether they are renting or buying so you cant play the market as well. Single people tend to want to own in a good area but may not care about renting in a bad area when I rent I dont care what the school ratings are, I dont have kids and have no vested interest in the property, if crime gets bad, I simply move the next lease period. When owning, these things matter as it is very costly to move and the value of the property is tied to crime, schools, etc., so I require owning in a better area than I would renting for the same quality of life. 