I remember renting my first apartment. It did not make economic sense. I could have lived at home for free and munched on food, watched cable, used electricity/water/gas subsidized by my parents. But instead I chose to pay $250 per month to share a townhouse with three other guys, plus utilities, food, etc for a total of about $400 per month in 1989 dollars. Why didn’t I consider the future value of that money ? If I instead invested in Microsoft, I would have made a fortune.
If you are currently renting a SFR, doesn’t it make more economic sense to move into a 2-BR apartment or a trailer park in East county. Sure it does. Are you going to do it ? Well someone might, but most won’t.
My Point :
Everybody has their own threshold of pay(n) that they are willing to sacrifice for a place of their own, whether it’s owning or renting. davidpiece’s pay(n) threshold is just about 30-50% higher than other posters.
