Rent or Own? (again)

[george]

I'm a bubble agnostic, but I have a question. Rent or Own?

I was really suprised by the results I got from this New York Times rent vs. own calculator.



My question for this board: using the calculator is it better to rent or own in Seattle right now based on what you're seeing?

It depends on your assumptions, of course. Since we're dreaming, here's a scenario: 700K house, 30% down vs. extravagant rental at $2300 a month. You can also up the investment return (under "advanced") to 8-10 percent, but even if you leave that setting as-is and up the home price increase to 6% a year, you are better off renting after 30 years.

This surprised me. It seems like it doesn't matter if there's a bubble that is going to burst or not. Either way, a lot of renters could be better off after 30 years.

[EastSider]

[eagle eye]

[george]

[The Tim]

That is indeed a pretty sweet calculator. Probably the best one I've seen online. Simple to use, but allows you a good amount of control over the advanced variables, and gives you results in a nice clean interface.

Also, if you punch in the same set of numbers to the NYT calculator and , you get very similar results. It's nice to have a bit of affirmation that my calculations are fairly accurate.