[schrodinger]

What if you had rented and invested that 500/month (and the maintenance costs you had to pay along the way) in index funds?

[jandrese]

Uh, I was paying $500 more per month to rent than to own. Most people I know around here who bought a house saw their monthly payment go down.

Also, it seems a bit odd to hedge against downturns in the housing market by investing in the stock market. The latter is far more volatile.