In California property taxes are 1% of the purchase price and can then only go up by 1-2% a year. In the house I currently rent the property taxes are $4,000 p

In California property taxes are 1% of the purchase price and can then only go up by 1-2% a year. In the house I currently rent the property taxes are $4,000 per year. If I bought the house then they would be around $7,500 per year. Everything else being equal that is a $300 per month saving by renting. There are various rent versus buy calculators online. Below is the NYT one. Buying will make sense eventually but that is measured in years. Putting in the current figures for my house, buying will never make sense unless there is at least 5% increase in house price per year every year. Banking on certain rates of return is what turns it into an all eggs in one basket "investment". http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calcula...