<prompt> Human: Im looking to move soon and want to buy a house for the first time. Ive read over and over again that a person should be ready to live in a house for 5 years before considering buying, lest they lose money. I just did my own math though and Im not seeing how this really holds true. Here is a spreadsheet with my reasoning so you can hopefully follow along:The scenario: I looked at a single house where I want to live Colorado Springs, CO - I estimated the house would cost 175,000 to buy, however its currently offered as a rental for 1,190 a month.I used an online mortgage calculator to get the annual cost of owning the house. The Principal value includes property taxes and homeowners insurance. In addition, I added 11,500 as the sum of all buying and selling costs. To the right of the sheet Ive listed out year by year how much will have been paid in interest and how much I would have alternatively paid in rent, with a summary of the difference at the farthest to the right.By my calculations and given I havent calculated anything for home repairs I believe that after just 2 years of owning the house, assuming I can sell for the same price I bought it for 175,000, I will have saved nearly 7,000 over having otherwise rented the same place. Even if I add in home repairs, I would have to spend more than 7,000 in the first 2 years repairing to lose money, and by the 3rd year Im fairly certain theres no way I could have lost money over renting.Ive also excluded the costs of buying furniture, utilities, and other things like that as I would be paying for all that anyways if I were to rent. Sure utilities will be marginally more expensive, and there are costs with owning a lawnmower and whatever other random items, but I dont feel they add up to anything that would de-justify owning the house for the purposes of saving money over renting.Would someone be able to better explain the 5 year rule and for this scenario specifically help me understand why I may not want to buy and instead rent?  <response>: The idea of being ready to live in a place for 5 years before buying is a rule of thumb based on three things:First is your buying and selling costs and unless I miss my guess you havent accounted for your realtors commission.Second is the opportunity cost of using your down payment to buy a house instead of investing it.Third is the risk of not being able to sell your home quickly when you want to move. If it sits empty for a few months while youre trying to sell it that will cut into your gains. 