I happily rent an apartment, and I really dont see myself buying a house - unless I am buying it with someone else. My issue is in understanding the pros and cons of it all (does it save money?, is it burdensome?, is it a fit for my lifestyle?). So I have a few questions:

Is it less money involved or more money involved?

(For example: with renting, I pay the rent which includes heat, hot water, and gas...then I pay a separate electricity bill for the outlets...phone bill). With owning wouldnt that mean bills for the mortgage, water, heat, electric, repairs?

With renting, I like that if something goes wrong that calls for maintenance, I dont personally have to be bothered with the yellow pages, but can call a 24 hour maintenance line and they can have it handled within 24 hours...but I know that with a home, that responsiblity would be on me.

I know the more obvious CON is that with renting, you never truly own the property...you will have nothing to pass on to anyone. You are basically flushing your money down the toilet, month to month. But with owning...you take out a loan from a bank...so does it mean the bank owns the home until you pay them back?

Is it renting from the bank?

I hear there are advantages for homeowners during income tax season. Can someone explain?

Is it for the repair costs? Mortgage fees?

I do want to be more educated on it. I know that I dont want to get too settled in any one city right now, so renting is the best option for me, but I see so many people buying homes and suggesting that I do the same...that I cant help but wonder just what am I missing as a single person with no dependents?

Also - in Manhattan NY...I noticed that people actually buy apartment units?

i have found that it's cheaper/easier to rent (for many of the reasons that you listed.) i've already owned my own home and when i sold it, it felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulder. i was planning on buying a house this year, but it would be a lot of work if did.

also, it depends on your individual tax situation to see if it would work better in your favor to rent or own. so many variables are involved, i think it would be best to talkj to the person that does your taxes.

people buy apartments everywhere, and they're easier to sell than single family homes.

When you rent, you pay hundreds of dallars a month, and in the end, you have nothing to pay for it. When you buy a house, even if you don't consider it ownership because of the banks involvment, once your payments are done, you have a huge asset on your hands.

You CAN lose money buying real estate. You DO lose money renting. If you pay $500/month for rent for 30 years (a typical mortgage length), at the end of that time, you've spent $180,000.

Owning can be more complicated and more expensive per month than renting, but I think if you can afford the monthly payments and other expenses on a house (or condo) that is suitable to your needs, it's in your best interest to buy.