What you’re calculating is P+I. So it’s not really fair since you’re paying down your loan. It’s better to just compare rent to I since I is the part where you’re throwing your $ away to the bank. Also, you’re counting property tax. If you count property tax, then you should also count tax deduction too. Which will amount to $750/month. So $2519 – $750 = $1769/month. So, lets remove the P from the equation and the down payment. Assuming you’re doing 100% financing.

@$450k @ 6% interest (since you think 5.5% is too low), your interest a month is $2250 + $100 in HOA + $375 in property tax = $2725/month. But let say you’re in the 28% tax bracket and 9% state tax, then your tax deduction would be = $971/month which make a grand total of $1754/month after taxes and tax deduction.

In regards to renting a 4 bedrooms in Mira Mesa, the price changes quite a bit comparing older places w/ newer places this the one in our example. I was looking for rent around that complex too back in May. That’s the rent I see.