Just another opinion,
Most people don't realize that the house you live in can rarely be considered an investment - in that - in general, you do not MAKE money from the house you live in. At best you LOSE LESS MONEY than from renting. The exception would be when the market is giving 20%/yr increases AND you sell at the top of the market. The days of 20% yearly growth in housing prices are long gone in CA (the market is heading down currently).
There is a crossover amount where buying becomes cheaper than renting. If you compare a $1,600/mo apartment to a $800K house, and assume normal rates of price growth and a normal 30yr fixed loan, renting is a lot cheaper. (You could argue that a house is more desirable, but the difference between what you need and what you desire is called 'luxury', so each person determines there own price that they are willing to pay for luxury.)
$800K House, mortgage: $4K/mo (interest only loan), $1250/mo taxes/insur/maint, for 5 years = $315K that you will put into the house.
At the end of 5 years, total value including appreciation assuming 3%/yr price growth = $927K, equity minus selling cost of 6% = $72K.
So you have put in $315K to get back $72K which is a loss of $243K.
Renting for $1,600/mo would cost you $96K for 5 years.
So would you rather lose $96K over 5 years by renting or lose $243K over 5 years by buying?
(yes this assumes a house price, amount financed, interest rate, and a historically average appreciation)
Hope this makes sense and is useful.....
steven