this is a very simplistic way to look at the rent vs buy, although its more thorough than most. using a mortgage calculator and amoritization table it seems th

this is a very simplistic way to look at the rent vs buy, although its more thorough than most. using a mortgage calculator and amoritization table it seems that after 10 years of paying 1200/mo you would have about 45k in equity (+ your downpayment) with the rest going towards interest. this is a far cry from 100k+ in equity that you stated. if you are working with a vacation property manager or airbnb, expect to give them a hefty cut of the rents you collect and while it may cover your mortgage you still have to rent someplace else to stay. maintenance costs are also not minimal, and a reasonable estimation is about 2% of your purchase price every year. on an older home, this is going to be more. those things apply to everybody in the rent vs buy debate, but for hackers specifically we need to think about opportunity cost. with an apt you may have security deposits, etc, but you dont have a massive down payment. that downpayment could be used for giving a startup a longer runway or even just helping give you peace of mind that you would have a cushion if things at your job didnt work out. buying a house isnt "bad," but it isnt as good as most people like to think (meaning the default play for everybody shouldnt be to buy a house). if you dont know where you will be in a few years, let alone 5-10, then it is almost definitely not the best decision to buy a house unless you have enough money where it just doesnt matter. in short, most people underestimate the true cost of a house and overestimate their likely returns. buy a house when you can afford to pay for the comfort of home security. dont buy a house as an invesment unless you can prove that it will yield a better return on your money than your other options.