You can even rent Donald Trump for $300,000 an hour!

http://millionairesconcierge.com/celebrity-meet.htm

Not that you'd want to, of course. But just to get up close and give that rats-nest rug a yank ...

What about messed up markets like the one I live. Renting is quite a bit more expensive than buying for the same size & type of place.

The place I rent for $1400/month now is estimated by zillow to rent for 1425 and a mortgage would be $811/month. Why not buy? The first problem is no one is selling...and the second is to actual get the bank to loan you the money you need at least $50,000 to put down.

I rent. I like the fact that if something big breaks, I don't have to fix it. I had a friend who worked in the mortgage industry and got some crazy loan package so she could buy a ridiculously small condo at a price that was artificially high. Of course, she bought at the height of the housing market. She kept trying to talk me into buying a place and I kept saying no. She got some crazy loan package, 80% on a first and took a second out for 20% and had no equity going in. She lost her place 2 years ago. I'm still in my same townhouse, and haven't had an increase in my rent in years. Home ownership isn't a right...and the feds need to stop acting like everyone deserves to buy a house. They used to call home ownership the American Dream...now it's more like a nightmare with what all the bailouts have done to this country.

to loan you the money you need at least $50,000 to put down

So, they're finally wising up and expecting you to put up 20% down payment?

Your situation is polar opposite of mine. I'm looking, and on Friday I will go take a look at another 8 properties. My agent and I can go at any time because all 8 stand vacant. One has been on the market 600+ days. Previously, I'd looked at about 10 properties. All but one stood vacant. One has been on the market for 4+ years.

Do not let anyone confuse you: POSSESSION, or OCCUPANCY, is NOT OWNERSHIP.

If the bank has a piece, IT IS NOT YOURS.

This is above and beyond any other restriction which dilutes your presence, such as laws taking your property for local govt speculation, restrictions on what you may have, build or do, etc.

The best way to keep broke people broke is to loan then money they can't pay back.

With property and school taxes, it is NEVER yours.

Wasn't this called "predatory lending" just a couple weeks ago?

The Obama administration is concerned that even in the midst of the housing market's recovery, many young people and people with bad credit can't borrow money to buy homes.

…administration officials say they are working to get banks to lend to a wider range of borrowers by taking advantage of taxpayer-backed programs ... that insure home loans against default.

Concerned that people with bad credit can't get a loan?

And the solution they've come up with is coercing banks to lend to a wider range of borrowers?

Bad credit is earned by not paying off the money one is loaned. How is loaning large sums of money to people with bad credit a good idea?

This would be laughable if we hadn't spent the last ten years providing what a bad idea it is.

And when this house of cards collapses and takes the economy with it, will that also be Bush's fault?

"Wasn't this called "predatory lending" just a couple weeks ago?"

Properly directed campaign contributions solved that problem.

I purposely haven't purchased, and don't intend to until the rent drops below the cost of my rent. The added maintenance cost just isn't worth it. It's really just a simple cost/benefit analysis, instead of a "I want it and have to have it".

In my metro area, I can rent an 1,800 sq ft house for $1,400 per month. Or I could buy a 23,500 sq ft house with a mortgage of about $1,300 per month in the same neighborhood.

I'll add the caveat that this would be a VA or Texas Veteran's Land Board mortgage and not one of those internet (looking at you LendingTree) ripoffs.

We looked into renting for our first year, but the hassles with property management companies that listed the rentals were just as onerous as getting a mortgage. So we decided to buy a house instead of paying someone else's mortgage.

@FormerBanker.
In a normal economy renting should be more expensive than buying.
If you read any real estate investment articles, buying being more expensive than renting, is the first sign that you are in a bubble. Because what investor in their right mind would want to invest in rental property and take a loss on it?

No one who could do the math would buy or build rental property if they could not rent it for more than either their mortgage + taxes (or get more from it than from some other investment.)

Right now with nothing earning interest, the calculus is somewhat different. You may be just looking for something that will hold it's value against inflation, and in states with high real estate taxes, real property may not be a good bet.

Renting gives you flexibility. You pay more for a rental place than you do for a mortgage because if you take a job, somewhere else, you don't have to continue paying the mortgage, and of course, if you do own a house, and can't sell, it is very nice if you can rent it for enough to cover your mortgage, and management fees to the rental agency.
If you are in danger of losing your job, renting is the only way to go. You can give up an expensive rental and downsize.

This is the same reason, writ large, that you rent a hotel room or a condo when you go on vacation rather than buying a place to live in for a week. (and don't get me started on time shares)

People would frankly be out of their mind to buy property right now in California, or Nevada, so it is really a good thing that a big down payment would be required to even consider it.

"Skin in the game" keeps the foolhardy out of the real estate market and "no skin in the game", is essentially what caused the housing bubble.

One of my Exs bought a house and had it for only a handful of years. Basically, he lost his job and the bank wanted full payment up front and wouldn't accept a partial payment. Thankfully, this happened before the bubble burst and he was able to sell. He ran the numbers and found out that between the mortgage, and the costs of taxes and buying the place that he broke even. Essentially, he lived RENT FREE for about four years.

If only I end up so lucky as to be rent free when I leave my condo.

OK but you can't be for labor mobility AND against babies on planes.

My mortgage is paid off but I'm still paying almost that amount for taxes and insurance.

Got children? Grandchildren? What a lovely mess we're leaving them.

That's my biggest problem to have a sound sleep.