Very broadly, I take monthly MR (and usually HOA as well*) and multiply by 200 and consider that a hidden amount financed (200 is tailored to current interest rates). I mentally add that to the purchase price when comparing to a house without MR/HOA. Non-scientific, doesn’t scale with changes in interest rate, but quick and easy to mentally calculate.
My concern with 4S is that there are a sufficiently large number of “owners” that have not thought through the long-term impact of the MR (and HOA) fee burden. I feel like until that area is better seasoned it may suffer from an out-sized drag on values as people weigh the fee burden vs. their enjoyment value of the infrastructure it provides.
Also, we’re probably at the worst end of the rate spectrum in terms of how good of a deal MR should be. (In theory, the MR CFD bonds are at better rates for financing the infrastructure than if the builder passed it directly to you in the purchase price and you had to finance it yourself. At current low rates, that’s not a win with respect to existing MR; as far as I’m aware, MR can’t generally be refied by the CFD.) As rates (eventually) rise, the MR-financed portion will be a better deal compared to financing the rest of the house (and in some senses could be considered an assumable mortgage at an older, by then more favorable rate).
*HOA probably never ends and probably can only go up or have special assessments. For that matter MR may never end if at the end of the term enough people succumb and vote for a new CFD bond issue to replace the (by then) crumbling infrastructure.
