EconProf, I think you misunderstood why some of us compare cost of ownership with rent. It’s not to buy and rent it out right away. If that’s your intention, I agree, $225k would be a much more intriguing price. The reason why I use mortgage vs rent is to determine whether it’s cheaper for me to continue renting or buy. You’re throwing money way with rent, but you’re also throwing money away with interest and tax. The question comes down to, which one is less.

esmith, $200/month more makes a big difference. feraina also did a fine job explaining why UCSD students would prefer MM vs PQ/RB/etc. You can also rent a older (built in the 70s-80s) 2000+ sq-ft house with a decent size yard in MM for around $2100-2200 as well, if size and yard means more to you. You also have to be realistic about the commute time. I live on the west end of MM for many years and went to UCSD, worked in SV and CV. My commute to UCSD/CV usually take no more than 10 minutes anytime since there no traffic and commuting to SV should take no more than 5 minutes. How long will it take during peak traffic time to get across 56 or MM Blvd from PQ? I suspect it to be 30+ minutes.

cv2, Bugs, etc… I agree that when the parameters change, the price would also have to change. So if rent drops and/or rates rise, we have to see lower prices. The only problem is, these are unknown parameters and there’s no real good scientific way to predict them either.