You love where you live, in your nice cozy little apartment. You may be looking for a new apartment and find that rents are going up higher and higher. Why would you ever want the responsibility of owning your own home? Why should you even consider it? Especially when the housing market is sinking.

Here are a few good answers

Pride of ownership - There's nothing like the feeling you get from working really hard to accomplish something, or saving your money to purchase something you've wanted for a long time. It's kinda like that when you buy your own home, only better.

It's a place you can make your own, with your own colors and decorating style, and no one else can tell you what to do with YOUR HOME, unless of course you live in a development with a strict homeowner's association and deed restrictions.

Building equity - Once you decide to buy your first home, you're in the homeowner game, and you've got a piece of some of the most desirable real estate on the planet. The equity you start building over time gives you options such as moving into a larger house or a better neighborhood.

Tax advantages - Writing off your mortgage interest and property taxes on your income tax returns is one of the few remaining tax breaks left. Use it while you can.

You have control - When you rent, you have no control. You pay whatever rent the landlord charges, and it can change every few months or every year, and it usually just goes up. You can be given a 30 day notice to vacate the premises for any number of legitimate reasons. In this case, unless you have a signed lease, you have no say and you just have to start packing. The owner may decide to sell the house while you're still living in it. In this case, you get strangers walking through your home. You can't knock down walls and remodel. In fact, you're lucky if they let you paint the interior walls a color you actually like. When you rent, you're just helping someone else get rich by paying their mortgage. Why not pay your own mortgage?

Right now, while the housing market is down, it is a opportune time to consider buying a home at record low housing prices and record low mortgage rates.