Why does everybody try to sneak in 2 questions in one?

It depends on where you live but in general it's cheaper to rent than buy. But with all generalizations there are exceptions. Renting in a location where land is cheap usually is more expensive than owing. Think Alaska or Texas. Again generalizations are always subject to being wrong.

I don't think anything makes it difficult for first time home owners other than the fact that here in the US we feel we are entitled to it which we are not. Because of this people seem to be unwilling to do it the right way. First you have to save up money of at least 10-20% of the purchase price of the home you want; then buy one where you do not make yourself house poor.(House poor is where you spend so much on your mortgage that you can't afford daily necessities like food, water and electricity.) Also variable rate mortgage loans should simply be outlawed. If you cannot afford the fixed loan, you shouldn't buy that house because you cannot afford it.

Also trade up. That's what I did. We bought a trailer. They are cheap and pretty much hold their value. We made smaller payments because of this and eventually paid it off. The trailer then became the down payment on our first house.

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