For the calculators, you do have to use absolute equivalents. And include every single expenditure.
I noticed Fred seems to be comparing a condo to a house, but is it impossible to rent a house in your area?
Getting a mortgage without 2 yr of job history, help!
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Fred Tracy
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Thanks Celliot, that means a lot.
Hmm.. I have only a basic understanding of amoritization, but it means that you only pay interest (or mostly interest) for the first few years, right? That seems like a scam.. crazy! It also seems like it would indeed make a good case for holding off on the home.
I just can't believe something like that is legal. Seems rather silly to me.
Sir Chadwick, you also raise a good point. If I rent, I'll get the cheapest thing possible, which is 419/month in my town. Of course, the houses I'm looking at are pretty cheap, but I could go a lot cheaper if I really wanted to!
Dragon - I can rent a house here, but it would be a lot more expensive than an apartment. I'm really only interested in the housing scenario if I can own it, fix it up, and the whole shebang.
Perhaps I really will postpone the buying process then. It's exciting in a whole different way to be able to rent, because I can do that now.. as in, like, tomorrow. And if I rented with a friend I'd have extremely low housing costs.
Lol, dragon.. I was slightly confused when you said I was comparing condos to houses, because I don't think we have condos here? Or maybe they are just called something else.
I'm curious, does anyone know if the rent vs buy calculator I listed above (the NY times one) takes into account amortization? If it doesn't, I can see a short-term buy like mine being severely handicapped!
Hmm.. I have only a basic understanding of amoritization, but it means that you only pay interest (or mostly interest) for the first few years, right? That seems like a scam.. crazy! It also seems like it would indeed make a good case for holding off on the home.
I just can't believe something like that is legal. Seems rather silly to me.
Sir Chadwick, you also raise a good point. If I rent, I'll get the cheapest thing possible, which is 419/month in my town. Of course, the houses I'm looking at are pretty cheap, but I could go a lot cheaper if I really wanted to!
Dragon - I can rent a house here, but it would be a lot more expensive than an apartment. I'm really only interested in the housing scenario if I can own it, fix it up, and the whole shebang.
Perhaps I really will postpone the buying process then. It's exciting in a whole different way to be able to rent, because I can do that now.. as in, like, tomorrow. And if I rented with a friend I'd have extremely low housing costs.
Lol, dragon.. I was slightly confused when you said I was comparing condos to houses, because I don't think we have condos here? Or maybe they are just called something else.
I'm curious, does anyone know if the rent vs buy calculator I listed above (the NY times one) takes into account amortization? If it doesn't, I can see a short-term buy like mine being severely handicapped!
Sorry, when I said condo I meant apartment. The terms kind of melded in my brain, but they have slightly different connotations.
If renting a house would be even more expensive than an apartment, and the apartment breaks even at 5-6 years, then the rent vs. buy equation on a house should break even even sooner. Plug in the numbers for renting the exact same house (or as close as you can get) for the real analysis.
The NY Times rent vs. buy calculator has some "advanced" button where you can plug in all kinds of different values. Actually, I find it almost mandatory to do so, because their stock market assumptions seem way too aggressive (i.e. I don't think you can count on a 7% return over the next 5 years with a high likelihood of success... maybe over the next 30-40 years).
If renting a house would be even more expensive than an apartment, and the apartment breaks even at 5-6 years, then the rent vs. buy equation on a house should break even even sooner. Plug in the numbers for renting the exact same house (or as close as you can get) for the real analysis.
The NY Times rent vs. buy calculator has some "advanced" button where you can plug in all kinds of different values. Actually, I find it almost mandatory to do so, because their stock market assumptions seem way too aggressive (i.e. I don't think you can count on a 7% return over the next 5 years with a high likelihood of success... maybe over the next 30-40 years).
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Fred Tracy
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- Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2012 10:09 pm
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Well, that's true. If I were to compare renting / buying the same exact house, buying would win easily. I suppose the only problem is I can't find the equivalent of the crappy apartment I want to rent, haha. If I could find something that small in a house, I'd definitely buy it!
Oddly enough I did find a house for rent that was only 100$ more expensive than the apartment, but it was TINY and by some train tracks, so...
Perhaps I'll rent after all. Only time will tell.
Oddly enough I did find a house for rent that was only 100$ more expensive than the apartment, but it was TINY and by some train tracks, so...
Perhaps I'll rent after all. Only time will tell.