Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator

Post by ngngngng » Mon, Jul 19, 2021, 10:14 PM UTC

autarch wrote: post #153

mauvehaus wrote: post #119

You get old enough, and you get tired of somebody else making decisions from afar that affect your day to day life with no real consequences to them. Little things like the kitchen layout being moronic and having zero drawers get old when it isn't your choice to remodel or live with it. And while it's nice to say "just move", let's not forget that moving costs a couple months rent and a massive time investment to fin…

> I'm pretty convinced most people buy because they're either tired of the bullshit that comes with renting or want to buy into a specific school district, not because they're worried about making a return on their investment. Another big factor is noise. A detached house is going to be quieter than most apartments in a shared building. That was the big reason we moved to a house. I'm a light sleeper and noise from p…

Post by ghaff » Mon, Jul 19, 2021, 10:15 PM UTC

BeetleB wrote: post #142

madcaptenor wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is nice. I definitely played around with some calculators like this when I was deciding to buy a house a few years ago. Off the top of my head, some things I'd add to make this more useful to a wide audience: - I don't know what I pay in state income and sales taxes. But I do know my income and my state's tax rate; income tax could be derived from that. I'm not sure how you'd estimate sales tax, though - you'd h…

> I've heard a rule of thumb that home maintenance costs are 1% of the home's value per year It's a very poor rule of thumb. Contrary to the other comment, these costs don't increase linearly with value of the house. Sure, if I live in an expensive area, it may go up 30%, but not much more. Looking at how much my house has appreciated, I can assure you I pay not much more in maintenance than when I bought it. The 1%…

Post by slavapestov » Mon, Jul 19, 2021, 10:16 PM UTC

mauvehaus wrote: post #119

You get old enough, and you get tired of somebody else making decisions from afar that affect your day to day life with no real consequences to them. Little things like the kitchen layout being moronic and having zero drawers get old when it isn't your choice to remodel or live with it. And while it's nice to say "just move", let's not forget that moving costs a couple months rent and a massive time investment to fin…

Post by freeone3000 » Mon, Jul 19, 2021, 10:18 PM UTC

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #167

cperciva wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying isn't any better with sales going to all-cash buyers who are paying way above and beyond market. If that's the price houses are selling for, that is the market price.

Guess you’re not familiar with the concept of scarcity and outlier buyers.

Post by autarch » Mon, Jul 19, 2021, 10:19 PM UTC

ngngngng wrote: post #171

autarch wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm pretty convinced most people buy because they're either tired of the bullshit that comes with renting or want to buy into a specific school district, not because they're worried about making a return on their investment. Another big factor is noise. A detached house is going to be quieter than most apartments in a shared building. That was the big reason we moved to a house. I'm a light sleeper and noise from p…

Noise was a big one for us, but it was the opposite problem. We were starting to have children and I didn't want to worry about making noise and disturbing my neighbors. In single family detached housing we can make as much noise as we want and only disturb ourselves.