What do you have against renting? How does throwing money away on rent differ from throwing money away on "interest payments/property tax/association fees/maintenance/transaction fees?
Have you compared all the cashflows involved? I highly suspect that rent would end up being cheaper than interest/property tax/association fees/maintenance/transaction fees/(-tax deductions)... And that's without taking into account a crash in housing values, which I believe to be imminent.
I respect your desire to start accumulating assets. However, my advice would be to rent and pocket the difference, investing it in a more undervalued asset class.
FWIW, here is an article that you might find interesting:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/st...517768223.html