With home prices dropping, minimal interest rates and the cost of rental properties on the rise, now may be the time for renters to seriously consider buying a house.

When the housing bubble burst in 2006, the cost of buying a house was considerably higher than renting that same house in most areas. Today, the opposite is true in many states, particularly those hit hardest in the housing crash-namely Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada and right behind them, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.

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