A lot of the renting specifics are too darn landlord-specific. He stays out of our hair, only fixes the necessities, and could care less if we paint. Our rent (half-duplex, 900 sqft + decent yard) has only gone from $1580 to $1650 in six years. We’ll cheerfully stay until we know the housing market is bottomed.

However, we have plenty of friends who are seeing regular rent increases (although these have been lower since the housing peak), annoying landlords who pretend to be the handyman, etc. Were we in one of those, I’m sure money wouldn’t be the only factor.

Also, second the recommendation of the NYTimes calculator above.