Before buying your first home, brace yourself for these extra costs

The proper rent-buy calculation would also include things like repainting, and replacing appliances, and repairs....

First rule of homeownership: the house always wants something. Not so much with the apts I've owned. But a house? It always needs something: a broken double-pain window seal, roof, deck refinished and sealed, yard cleanup, drippy pipe fitting, broken thermostat, squirrel in the attic, exterminator for annoying little glassy spiders, trim needs repainting, more stones for driveway, deer fence needs to be higher, chimney needs cleaning, on and on... But in the end, the upside outweighs all the rest for me. But that's another thread...

"the upside outweighs all the rest for me"

At ANY price?

No. For me personally. I know what I can afford, I have a sound savings/retirement plan in place, I love the benefits of owning year-round, growing my gardens, etc. As I've said only a hundred times on here, my goal in life is not to die with the most money possibile.

"my goal in life is not to die with the most money possible"

That's not steve's goal either based on his investment track record and the fact the he has recently constituted his broker account as a philanthropic vehicle

Excuse me, JM? My brokerage account is doing quiet well, thank you. It's helped along by the significant savings I get RENTING a luxury 2-bedroom apartment rather than buying one, losing my down payment and more, wasting money on transaction costs, and making realtwhores rich.

All in all a win-win situation for me.

your apt is nice enough, but luxury? you exaggerate like a realtor. does it 'exude old war charm'? is it 'steps from all the best manhattan has to offer'?

printer, steve still thinks his apartment is 1200 sqft, don't ruin it for him.