> It gives you a fixed monthly houseing cost. Renting is the opposite of a fixed monthly cost, since rents go up all the time. If you rent, you can't tell me w

> It gives you a fixed monthly houseing cost. Renting is the opposite of a fixed monthly cost, since rents go up all the time. If you rent, you can't tell me what your rent will be in ten years. I can tell you what my mortgage will be, exactly the same as today. > No "10k new roof" or "1k new stove" suprises hit you. If these bother you, you can sign up for house maintenance insurance programs to give you a fixed monthly cost. I'd recommend against that since they make a profit off you, you're better off putting that money into an investment account and withdraw from there when you neeed it.