
Is It Better to Rent or Buy? - tdurden
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html
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jaclaz
It seems to me like an exercise in futility (with all due respect).

It has too many parameters projected over a very long time (I mean if you are
going to consider buying a house it means that you are planning some stability
over a long stretch of time, like 20 years or more, and anyway very few people
can afford to buy a house with a shorter than 20 years mortgage covering
50%-60% or more of the price).

You are asked to project for (as said at least 20 years) the inflation rate,
the appreciation of the house value, the increase in rents, the investment
return rate.

While the first three can - _maybe_ \- be roughly hypothized (in a "stable"
country with a "stable" economy), the latter is highly variable, you may also
lose money in investment, or as well you could have an unpredictable very high
growth rate.

The much simpler rule of thumb of 3% of house value is much faster (still in
the 20+ years duration hypothesis).

If you can pay for rent less than 3% of current value of the house, then rent,
otherwise (if you can afford it) buy.

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ljsocal
Important factors that this calculator doesn't (and can't) account for:

Lifestyle: having owned and rented, hands-down renting is far easier. No
weekend trips to Home Depot, no emergency $500 plumbing bills, zero time or
attention devoted to care & feeding of house, etc.

Standards: the requirements for the house you're willing to rent are far
looser than if you are "betting the ranch" on a house, neighborhood, school
district, etc.

Flexibility: renting allows for far more flexibility and geographic mobility.
If you need/want to move, give notice, arrange mover and you're off. The
process of prepping for, selling and moving from an owned home is much harder,
more complex and expensive (especially if the market happens to be soft)

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misnamed
This calculator has been around for a while, but they keep improving it and I
recommend it all the time. Have to be really really careful with inputs,
though - like: don't just accept their projections for a portfolio's growth,
as it will depend heavily on your stock/bond ratio, etc...

