I read something the other day...

Someone who had a lot of money was saying what they did to get rich. The first thing was, "Rent, don't buy."

The point was something like this: People look at their purchase price, say $500,000, and compare it to the selling price, say $1,000,000, and think, I made $500,000! But they didn't. They paid interest, and more importantly, they probably spent a lot of money on that house in maintenance and upgrades. They probably bought something bigger than they needed and paid more for utilities because of the size of the place. They had to buy more furniture, and more curtains. Maybe they had to buy farther out, and upped their commuting costs.

If that money had been saved and invested, he contended, buyers would be better off. And that's the problem, because at least with a house, you have to sink money into it.

But you can come out better renting and saving the difference.