Time to dive into some of the pros and cons of buying or renting. As well as some other facts that you should take into factor

The Upfront Cost and Hidden Costs

When you rent, the upfront costs are prettying much straight forward. When you first start your lease you will pay the first and last month's rent as well as a security deposit that is equal to one month's rent. Depending on where you are going to be renting and type of place you want to rent. Let's assume that you may be looking somewhere around $1,500+ per month on rent, then to start the lease you would be looking at $4,500 upfront costs. The hidden costs may include garbage bills, water, parking, etc if your landlord makes you pay for it. The landlord may also  raise the price of rent at the end of the lease and if you want to move out before your lease it over, you may get hit with a lease break fee. Overall, the upfront costs are a scientifically cheaper than buying.

Now with buying a home… As you can imagine this will be clearly more expensive in the upfront costs.

Let's use the example of buying a home for $500,000 as your first home. As soon as you go under contract you will need to write an earnest money check. The amount varies on the how much the interest the home is getting and the type of market we are in. If you wanted to write a strong offer in this case I would suggest around 2% of the purchase price which would be a $10,000 earnest check. The next amount will vary a lot depending on how much you want to put as a down payment. For an example, you can get a FHA loan where you will you could put down 3.5% of the home purchase. Back in the scenario we just had you would need to have a down payment of $17,500. You’ll also need to take into consideration your closing costs and prepaids which are additional costs associated with Buying. All together and taking the sums into consideration you would be looking at a total cash to close figure that would be the (down payment + closing cost + prepaids) of which your earnest money is credited back to you at close as money that you have already paid. Also don’t forget the cost of inspections as these can impact how much additional money you may need to spend to purchase the home.

This Hidden Costs

To answer the clear question, yes there are a lot more upfront costs to owning a home as compared to renting  and owning real estate is a long term play. Over time as prices climb you will find that the value of your home is increasing while the amount that you owe is decreasing even though your monthly combined principle and interest payment remain the same. However, say the market is booming the home prices are raising. Next thing you know after talking with your realtor or checking out Zillow to see where your home is worth and you see that is says $600,000 within a few years time.  Your home has appreciated in value by  $100,000 and you now have added equity in your investment. (Equity: When the home's value rises while you pay off your mortgage, you are "building equity")

Home's Value - Mortgage Debt = Equity

Back with the renting side. In that same period of time over a year you are renting and paying $1,500 per month. You would have spent $18,000 for the year on rent while owning a home would have been building equity. These scenarios only truly works if the home prices are raising. The market could have easily went south and the home value could have dropped. Then renting may  be the better decision.