Why Rent Not Buy

This article gives 5 reasons why renting is better than buying a house:

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/5-reasons-renting-still-beats-buying.html

With the housing market the way it is now, equity is a very fluid concept. So while people think they're not throwing away money by buying a house, they really might be if they purchase a house for $200,000 and end up selling it at $25,000 or losing it altogether when the bank repossesses it. There are a lot of other expenses on a house (upkeep, taxes, etc.) that can use more money even when the value of the house continues decreases. I hadn't thought about the neighborhoods changing before, but it was a good point. A house that was once in a great neighborhood with great equity could over just a few years become a house everyone is afraid to live in because the neighborhood's become dangerous.