[onewhippedpuppy]

HELOCs and IO are ALWAYS bad financial planning. Depending on the circumstance, it can be a non-issue or a backbreaker.

Renting can be good or bad, depending on the situation. Obviously renting is ideal for those that won't be in the same place for long, as selling a house can be an ordeal. In a turbulent housing market like CA, renting looks pretty good right now. However, in somewhere like Wichita, where there is no housing bubble, renting really is no bargain. For a given payment, I get twice the house buying rather than renting. Obviously I incur extra costs via upkeep, insurance and property tax, but I also am rewarded with equity and the pride of home ownership.

I think you're just comparing bad financial decisions, it's just a question of bad vs worse.