9 ms·

Depending on where you live and your level of income, the most realistic way to think of buying a home may be as simply a more cost effective way of putting a r

Depending on where you live and your level of income, the most realistic way to think of buying a home may be as simply a more cost effective way of putting a roof over your head than renting would be. It's certainly the case for me.

sparrish 9y ago
This is exactly why I recently purchased a home. Rent in the same area is $2.2k/month and purchasing the same home is $1.8k/month. Didn't make sense for me to keep renting.
- nikanj 9y ago
  Our home in Vancouver rents for just under two grand, and would sell for something around one million. The math doesn't make sense anymore, but everyone wants to get on that sweet rocket ship. Own a place for a year, watch it go from a million to 1.3 million, cash out via HELOC or selling to the next sorry sod. Actually I'm just bitter I didn't buy in 2013.
- xienze 9y ago
  Only a $400 difference? That will get quickly eaten up once you replace the AC, roof, siding, have to fix the foundation, and other things you have to do to maintain a house.
  - cpncrunch 9y ago
    To get an accurate comparison you should probably just include the mortgage interest at 4 or 5% (closer to long-term mortgage rates, and similar to the income you would get from equities), and also include property tax, maintenance, etc. The principal can be thought of as building up equity, similar to a renter putting their spare cash in the stock market. When you run the numbers for places like Vancouver and Toronto it's probably cheaper renting, small towns in the prairies the opposite might be true. We're paying $1250/month to rent a nice $200k townhouse on Vancouver Island, so the numbers are similar either way when you factor in property tax, water, etc., and we don't have to worry about maintenance.