I got a pair of emails this weekend that are worth discussion. Here’s a portion of the first:
…we’re looking at buying a townhouse as a temporary place to stay. Our income is pretty good, more than 100k a year.
But the math that’s involved in figuring out all the possibilities of whether its better to rent or buy (we’re renting at $1800 a month right now) is sorta complicated, especially considering the number of unknowns.
The second was from a 23-year-old looking for their first home:
…not being able to afford the minimum 400k condo (or 600k houses)… Is there any place for me to look where I can find postings and debate this healthy on homes in the 200-300k range? (which I guess is obviously not in downtown or on the east side.)
While the “real estate is local” cliché is certainly true, it is also true that even in a specific local region, the market for high-priced properties for sale or rent will be quite different than the low end of the market. When we plug the numbers for rent vs. own type scenarios on here, we typically do numbers close to the median / average, where it’s still easy to find a rental for 50-75% of the cost to buy.
What have you been seeing out there in different price ranges? Are there some price ranges where the numbers actually come out in favor of buying in today’s market?