You're Throwing Money Away on Rent, Right?

Real estate has become contorted and almost perverted into purely wealth building, when really it's about providing shelter. In many cities, specifically high cost of living cities, it is dramatically cheaper to rent than to buy. When i lived in new york, there was an apartment very close to me, same exact intersection,. And if i had bought it instead of renting, i would have paid over two times the price to own. There are these things called phantom costs, taxes, a insurance, interest on your mortgage, all of these things that are not factored in when you are renting. The landlord charges what the market will bear. Sometimes they make a profit, sometimes they don't