Yes I was a little bit ticked in my post, a combination of being burned by a mortgage and your holier then thou tone. I suggest you watch "Maxed Out" to see a more human side of things. As far as my rent vs condo payments. They are about the same now with the ARM kicking in. I was paying about $1,800 for a beach front apartment in Huntington(Centerport) Long Island, my mortgage was about $1,100 a month with taxes(condo taxes are low) and only $185 in maintenance a month which includes water. Granted it's not on the beach but it's still damn nice.Yes your 80,000 might make you more money invested in your portfolio but you also run the risk of losing money or not doing near 15% to 30% a year(If you're really getting a 30% a year return hell I'll hire you as my broker). As far as having to spend $400,000 for a condo to be as nice as your apartment it sounds like you are talking about a 3 bedroom townhouse with a hot tub or something. Also I don't know where you're getting that condos don't match inflation, I paid 180k for mine 3 years ago and it's been appraised for 225k this year and I have a friend who bought his for 110k 7 years ago and sold it for 250k 2 years ago. In fact because homes are getting out of the range of many people and the difficulty in obtaining large loans, condos are becoming more valuable as people are forced to buy them who would be buying homes just a few years ago. In another 2-3 years I plan on buying a house and renting the condo, and keeping it as a retirement investment.