Here is a practical example:

House is for sale for $200,000. Property taxes = 1.5%. Maintenance = .5%. Mortgage = 5%. Rent = $500 month/$6000 a year.

How much are you paying in rent? $200,000/6,000 = 3%. Fairly simple. How much is ownership going to cost you? $40,000 down, $160,000 mortgage. $858 a month according to a mortgage calculator, 30 year fixed. Also, you will be paying $4000 a year in taxes and maintenance. Total = more than $14,000 a year out the door. But wait, there's more. The $40,000 you put down cannot be invested. Assuming you can make 8% a year off of that $40,000, your opportunity cost is $3200 you are not earning by buying vs. renting.

There is a lot more to it than this. There are tax advantages from buying vs. renting and there is also the possibility your house rises in value over time. Also, in 30 years, you would obviously own your home free and clear even if it doesn't appreciate. But you paid a lot for that privilege. If you took the $14,000 + the $3200 = $17200 and subtract it from rent, $6000, you're left with over $11,000 a year. That $11,000, over 30 years, compounded (and you add $11,000 EACH YEAR), is a huge amount of money.

This is why the "ownership" society can be bullshit. You owned something: stocks. You just didn't own your house.

Tread carefully. Flexibility is priceless. It might be hard going from not paying rent to paying someone rent. It might feel like you are pissing money away. Imagine if you were the family member who owned the condo you are in right now. He lost is job and now he is going to lose his home. He probably also lost a down payment.

If you think you are going to stay in Chicago for at least 5 years, you can look into doing it. But the flexibility of renting vs. owning is huge and should not be discounted.

ha, I'm drinking Sierra Fresh Hop ale...I've never invested in a brewery but I was going to say boston as well...btw matt, I used to work in a card shop in the early 90s as well...good times

Where in Chicago?

Yeah, but what if they bring dogs home?

Are you even allowed to finance a purchase through a foreclosure auction?

I worked at shop my freshman year of high school. No wonder I couldn't get any girls to go out with me. At least I didn't read comic books, though I collected/sold those too. My parents made me quit cause my grades were shitty.

I thought you didn't "get" sports?

given,

I understand that you can lose a lot of money in the stock market short-term (as seen in the last couple years), but in the long term, you stand a good (great) chance of making money. Isn't this why people our age invest more in stocks?

Why isn't this the same as far as home ownership? I know my house might lose value over the next 2-3 years, but if I'm there for the next 15 years, wouldn't I have a great chance of making (good) money off it? Even with the housing collapse of late, if you bought your home in the late 90's, you've gotten good returns (at least here in the northeast). Why is this not safer than renting and using the savings to invest in potentially risky stocks?

the card business was a lot like pro sports..the jews dont play, they just own

Ukie Village, don't be messing up my plans now!

I also bet wildly on football in high school. Growing up in Las Vegas and having sports card shows in casinos is not a healthy way to raise a child. I knew every player on every team. I could give a shit about which city won or loss as long as I made money on their cards or my parlay cards. My rules for rooting for sports teams are:

You own the team
You're on the team
You have a bet on the team
You are dating someone on the team
You have a close friend/relative on the team

That's it.

You are one cold calculating son of a gun.

I'm just keeping it real G.

lol how am i doing that?

Many foreclosed homes sold in auctions are "cash only" sales and do not allow for financing. Banks want it sold immediately and investors tend to get better prices by paying in cash (they don't get leverage, however). This isn't true for all foreclosed homes.