I have blogged numerous times about “rent vs. buy” comparisons, illuminating the many reasons buying beats renting. But – there is now one reason to buy that looms so powerfully over all the others – that all the others are almost irrelevant. And don’t get me wrong, as the other reasons remain very powerful – and they include the following: Buying fixes your housing payment. We’ve seen rental rates double in many markets over the last six years, and we’ll see them shoot up again with the inevitable inflation we’ll see again.  Owning allows you to build equity with your housing payment.  Owning allows you to benefit from appreciation.  Owning allows you to do whatever you want to your home. In a survey several years ago, this reason ranked among the top reasons homeowners said they were happy they bought. It was not the financial reasons. It was the emotional, and all too many financial analysts discount this factor. I also often share this “Rent vs. Buy Calculator” from Freddie Mac – which pretty much always proves buyers will be better off in 5 to 7 years, no matter how conservative the assumptions are.Read More