How much cheaper should the own vs. rent be, in order to buy?

[Scarlett]

I am trying to get a handle for when it would start to make sense buying…

Some say it’s when morgtage payments with 20% down is less than renting the same place (but how do you get data for the rent, if it’s a SFH and extremely few are listed ‘for rent’? -that’s another question).
Some say it’s when YOUR mortgage payments (with YOUR downpayment, rate, insurance, fees, etc.), plus all the HOAs and MeloRoos, are less than the rent.
Some say, that even then, you will be out the downpayment, so mortgage+fees should be at most 2/3 of the rent, in order to make sense to buy. Well, ideally, yes, the cheaper the better, but I don’t want to hold on to a dream target…
I am waiting for your wisdom, dear Piggs.

Scarlett

[peterb]

Do your home work and find out what rents are going for so that you can decide what to do. If it’s your key component for decision-making, you need to get a good handle on it. Then decide if rents may be going down….

[peterb]

Do your home work and find out what rents are going for so that you can decide what to do. If it’s your key component for decision-making, you need to get a good handle on it. Then decide if rents may be going down….

[peterb]

Do your home work and find out what rents are going for so that you can decide what to do. If it’s your key component for decision-making, you need to get a good handle on it. Then decide if rents may be going down….

[peterb]

Do your home work and find out what rents are going for so that you can decide what to do. If it’s your key component for decision-making, you need to get a good handle on it. Then decide if rents may be going down….

[peterb]

Do your home work and find out what rents are going for so that you can decide what to do. If it’s your key component for decision-making, you need to get a good handle on it. Then decide if rents may be going down….

[Scarlett]

[quote=peterb]Do your home work and find out what rents are going for so that you can decide what to do. If it’s your key component for decision-making, you need to get a good handle on it. Then decide if rents may be going down….[/quote]
Well, that was my other question – how do you find out rents, and are they relevant for SFH?

I rent in UTC a 2 bdr apt that’s quite nice but very expensive ($2500), and I want to buy a 4 bdr SFH in PQ. There are very few houses there that are posted for rent. It seems like a 4 bdr , >2000 sf home would rent there for ~$2000-2600, based on craigslist.
Not sure how much store to set on those numbers. Some people that have a lot of equity may not care much if they charge a smaller rent. Others are more desperate for money and would charge more rent. It’s not much competition, I don’t think, and it’s not really regulated and determined by the market. I could be wrong though.(Note: I am not comparing my UTC apt. rent with the PQ SFH rent, though it is a factor in my decision, too).

[Scarlett]

[quote=peterb]Do your home work and find out what rents are going for so that you can decide what to do. If it’s your key component for decision-making, you need to get a good handle on it. Then decide if rents may be going down….[/quote]
Well, that was my other question – how do you find out rents, and are they relevant for SFH?

I rent in UTC a 2 bdr apt that’s quite nice but very expensive ($2500), and I want to buy a 4 bdr SFH in PQ. There are very few houses there that are posted for rent. It seems like a 4 bdr , >2000 sf home would rent there for ~$2000-2600, based on craigslist.
Not sure how much store to set on those numbers. Some people that have a lot of equity may not care much if they charge a smaller rent. Others are more desperate for money and would charge more rent. It’s not much competition, I don’t think, and it’s not really regulated and determined by the market. I could be wrong though.(Note: I am not comparing my UTC apt. rent with the PQ SFH rent, though it is a factor in my decision, too).

[Scarlett]

[quote=peterb]Do your home work and find out what rents are going for so that you can decide what to do. If it’s your key component for decision-making, you need to get a good handle on it. Then decide if rents may be going down….[/quote]
Well, that was my other question – how do you find out rents, and are they relevant for SFH?

I rent in UTC a 2 bdr apt that’s quite nice but very expensive ($2500), and I want to buy a 4 bdr SFH in PQ. There are very few houses there that are posted for rent. It seems like a 4 bdr , >2000 sf home would rent there for ~$2000-2600, based on craigslist.
Not sure how much store to set on those numbers. Some people that have a lot of equity may not care much if they charge a smaller rent. Others are more desperate for money and would charge more rent. It’s not much competition, I don’t think, and it’s not really regulated and determined by the market. I could be wrong though.(Note: I am not comparing my UTC apt. rent with the PQ SFH rent, though it is a factor in my decision, too).

[Scarlett]

[quote=peterb]Do your home work and find out what rents are going for so that you can decide what to do. If it’s your key component for decision-making, you need to get a good handle on it. Then decide if rents may be going down….[/quote]
Well, that was my other question – how do you find out rents, and are they relevant for SFH?

I rent in UTC a 2 bdr apt that’s quite nice but very expensive ($2500), and I want to buy a 4 bdr SFH in PQ. There are very few houses there that are posted for rent. It seems like a 4 bdr , >2000 sf home would rent there for ~$2000-2600, based on craigslist.
Not sure how much store to set on those numbers. Some people that have a lot of equity may not care much if they charge a smaller rent. Others are more desperate for money and would charge more rent. It’s not much competition, I don’t think, and it’s not really regulated and determined by the market. I could be wrong though.(Note: I am not comparing my UTC apt. rent with the PQ SFH rent, though it is a factor in my decision, too).

[Scarlett]

[quote=peterb]Do your home work and find out what rents are going for so that you can decide what to do. If it’s your key component for decision-making, you need to get a good handle on it. Then decide if rents may be going down….[/quote]
Well, that was my other question – how do you find out rents, and are they relevant for SFH?

I rent in UTC a 2 bdr apt that’s quite nice but very expensive ($2500), and I want to buy a 4 bdr SFH in PQ. There are very few houses there that are posted for rent. It seems like a 4 bdr , >2000 sf home would rent there for ~$2000-2600, based on craigslist.
Not sure how much store to set on those numbers. Some people that have a lot of equity may not care much if they charge a smaller rent. Others are more desperate for money and would charge more rent. It’s not much competition, I don’t think, and it’s not really regulated and determined by the market. I could be wrong though.(Note: I am not comparing my UTC apt. rent with the PQ SFH rent, though it is a factor in my decision, too).

[carlsbadworker]

Assume if you are buying 4B house, the formula that I uses is the local decent-shape 3B apartment rent (maybe with one garage rental as well). There should be plenty of data from the apartment ads. I figure that’s the bottom of the housing rental price. Sure, the apartment might be currently running or could be running promotion so it is not exactly the bottom price. But that’s what I use.

Then you calculate mortgage, HOA, MoloRoos, property tax and insurance. If those two prices are close, then I think it is time to buy. Sure, you will be out the downpayment, but you also get some tax benefits on the interest. I call it a wash.

If it is 5B house with 3000+ sqft, I will probably add another 10%. I’m buying 4B with 2700 sqft, so I don’t give extra rental price credit.

I don’t know if you might consider that a dream target. But I think I have achieved that with the house that I’m currently in escrow on. In the end, however, I think it is OK to overpay a little as long as you like the house. The difference in investment return is going to be small as long as you are paying attention to the buy/rent tradeoff.

[carlsbadworker]

Assume if you are buying 4B house, the formula that I uses is the local decent-shape 3B apartment rent (maybe with one garage rental as well). There should be plenty of data from the apartment ads. I figure that’s the bottom of the housing rental price. Sure, the apartment might be currently running or could be running promotion so it is not exactly the bottom price. But that’s what I use.

Then you calculate mortgage, HOA, MoloRoos, property tax and insurance. If those two prices are close, then I think it is time to buy. Sure, you will be out the downpayment, but you also get some tax benefits on the interest. I call it a wash.

If it is 5B house with 3000+ sqft, I will probably add another 10%. I’m buying 4B with 2700 sqft, so I don’t give extra rental price credit.

I don’t know if you might consider that a dream target. But I think I have achieved that with the house that I’m currently in escrow on. In the end, however, I think it is OK to overpay a little as long as you like the house. The difference in investment return is going to be small as long as you are paying attention to the buy/rent tradeoff.

[carlsbadworker]

Assume if you are buying 4B house, the formula that I uses is the local decent-shape 3B apartment rent (maybe with one garage rental as well). There should be plenty of data from the apartment ads. I figure that’s the bottom of the housing rental price. Sure, the apartment might be currently running or could be running promotion so it is not exactly the bottom price. But that’s what I use.

Then you calculate mortgage, HOA, MoloRoos, property tax and insurance. If those two prices are close, then I think it is time to buy. Sure, you will be out the downpayment, but you also get some tax benefits on the interest. I call it a wash.

If it is 5B house with 3000+ sqft, I will probably add another 10%. I’m buying 4B with 2700 sqft, so I don’t give extra rental price credit.

I don’t know if you might consider that a dream target. But I think I have achieved that with the house that I’m currently in escrow on. In the end, however, I think it is OK to overpay a little as long as you like the house. The difference in investment return is going to be small as long as you are paying attention to the buy/rent tradeoff.

[carlsbadworker]

Assume if you are buying 4B house, the formula that I uses is the local decent-shape 3B apartment rent (maybe with one garage rental as well). There should be plenty of data from the apartment ads. I figure that’s the bottom of the housing rental price. Sure, the apartment might be currently running or could be running promotion so it is not exactly the bottom price. But that’s what I use.

Then you calculate mortgage, HOA, MoloRoos, property tax and insurance. If those two prices are close, then I think it is time to buy. Sure, you will be out the downpayment, but you also get some tax benefits on the interest. I call it a wash.

If it is 5B house with 3000+ sqft, I will probably add another 10%. I’m buying 4B with 2700 sqft, so I don’t give extra rental price credit.

I don’t know if you might consider that a dream target. But I think I have achieved that with the house that I’m currently in escrow on. In the end, however, I think it is OK to overpay a little as long as you like the house. The difference in investment return is going to be small as long as you are paying attention to the buy/rent tradeoff.

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