This is the question that rivals all questions it seems. I know that when I get together with a large group of people and our conversation turns to finances and investing (as it almost always does, don't ask me why - maybe I need to look for a new circle of friends huh? lol) It has an almost polarizing effect on us. If someone was watching us on video tape and had the volume turned off, only watching our body language, they would see us all jockeying for position on one side of the room or the other depending on if you are a renter or an owner.

Human behaviour is interesting isn't it.

I am an "owner" and have been for much of my adult life. I have always taken the position that owning is the ONLY way to go. I was very adamant in my defense of my stand: Renting is throwing good hard earned money down the drain ( much like the saying goes, when you own a boat you are only throwing money into a hole in the water, but that is a topic for another time, so don't get me started) anyway, I have been thinking lately about this statement that I seem more then anxious to toss around "renting is throwing money away" ...or is it?

I have been doing some research and talking to renters lately and have come up with some reasons and times that renting might just be the better of the two options and I can see that at one or two points in my life, renting might just have been the wiser option (haha insert egg on my face here)

First of all consider your length of time in the residence. If you plan on staying in this new place of yours for more then say 5 years then buying is a real option and probably would be the best idea, BUT if you plan on staying less then 5 years, I am realizing that renting is probably the best way to go. This reasoning has much to do with equity and getting your investment back when you do sell. With the housing market as it is now, this reasoning is even more ...errr..reasonable. Nothing worse then investing in a home and then turning around and selling to either just break even or at a loss, ouch. And remember it is easier to move when renting then it is when selling. Sometimes the house doesn't sell right away, or if it does, the buyer runs into snags along that treacherous road known as mortgage loan approval. As a side note, why oh why do underwriters wait until the day before closing to say things like " umm well we have an issue here,and we need more paperwork on it"? grrrr...

Another argument for renting would be your

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