Counterpoint: the question you&#x27;re asking has to be asked about renting also!<p>Are you financially well off enough to afford <i>what the rent is going to be</i> over the next 15-30 years?<p>If you aren&#x27;t well off enough for the mortgage or the rent, then you&#x27;re fucked either way.<p>Now suppose we equate mortgage with rent, and declare that the payments you&#x27;re making aren&#x27;t contributing to equity---they are just pure rent. Then the equity you have in that $200K property is the $6K you put in. That is what is at risk <i>relative</i> to renting.<p>(Of course we are ignoring the effects of location. Relative mortgages versus rents and the longer term picture in a given area and such.)