[quote author="No_Such_Reality" date=1228885540][quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1228882003]
If I can afford to buy a house at $5000 per month (including all costs and tax savings), but can rent <strong>the same house</strong> at $4000 a month and buy that same house in 10 years with an additional $120k down and end up with a lower principal... that's sounds like saving... not investing.
Rental parity is really something HGTV should be making shows about.</blockquote>
Orange County, land of the $160,000+ a year renters...</blockquote>
The solution is to invest your $$ elsewhere, like buying income property in other parts of the country (or world) where you'd make a positive cash flow, and just rent locally. When you build up sufficient passive income from your investments, you can retire early. Or, you can leverage your additional income from elsewhere to buy a nice home here.
IMO your "home" should not be treated as an investment property. A home that is selected based on emotional reasons will not always make economic sense, but it will make you happy, so long as you can comfortably afford it. i.e. a nice sports car doesn't always make economic sense, but you'd enjoy driving it (zoom zoom) up and down the road. A home is kinda like that, the patio with a nice view doesn't always make economic sense at additional $$$$$$$!, but it'd make you happy when you're sipping tea with a lake/ocean view in the morning, and going for a nice soak in the afternoon.
<img src="http://www.seaplane-philippines.com/images/Boracay-Lrg..jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://www.marketmanila.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/aaashake3.JPG" alt="" />
