A friend recently pointed out that all houses come with a new hobby. You'll spend about 8 months and a ton of money deeply involved in this hobby, then it's another few years (and even more money) casually involved. Then, if things go well, you coast.

Personally, i'm still waiting for the line to switch on NYT's "Is it Better to Buy or Rent?" (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/business/2007_BUYRENT_GRAPHIC.html) calculator. Working (and playing) in Silicon Valley is great; it's just too bad about paying to live here...