[MisterBastahrd]

Let me assure you then, that in most markets, you will pay far more than the cost of a 30 year mortgage plus taxes and insurance for renting a house. You're subsidizing the cost of vacancies and also paying for some of the maintenance.

A 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in a decent but inexpensive part of the DFW where I live will run you $2K per month. These prices will skyrocket as rental prices catch up to the mortgage market. But just for comparison, 2 years ago that same house would have been on the market for about $220K and would have had a monthly mortgage of about $1200 a month on a 15 year loan or $800 or so on a 30 year loan.