owning a house vs renting costs

[sarad]

Re: owning a house vs renting costs

@bebo

Buying a house will be the biggest purchase of your life but if you have a good sense of your finances then the decision should be pretty clear. Be conservative with Real Estate meaning stick by tried-and-true rules, like 20 percent down, 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage, and a total monthly payment representing no more than 30 percent of your gross pay. When you buy a house yo’ll see a big chunk of your saving go but your bank account should still have at least an amount that can sustain you in emergencies for 6 months.
Don’t forget that if you live in a house long term you are accumulating equity as oppose to rent. There are potential pitfalls of home ownership like the mentality of keeping up with the joneses and going overboard with home renovations and decoration etc. But if you are savvy with you finances it should not be a problem.

Isnt 15 year better than 30 year mortgage ?? I thought we will end up paying less if we went with 15 years.
Also 30 years is such a long time, we will probably be retiring by that time.