It would be cool if this took in zip code to automate things like property tax rate or wherever else that data is relevant. It would be interesting to have some check mark too if you are a first time home buyer to apply those benefits.
Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator
111–120 of 424 posts
Re: Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator
#112One piece of millenial defeatism I hear a lot is "Ugh, I'll never be able to afford a 20% down payment, home ownership is impossible" I'm not sure where this myth came from, but as a millenial who went through the buying process in 2012 and again in 2016, I remember both times the lender just asked how much we wanted to put down. We could have gone as low as 3%, or maybe even lower. Yes, you have to pay PMI (private…
> I remember both times the lender just asked how much we wanted to put down Well then why doesn't everyone say zero? Why is it even a thing?
I don't know about other countries, but in Canada, the banks cannot legally approve a mortgage without a 5% or higher down payment.
Re: Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being in a unique position of renting out properties that I own while simultaneously renting, it seems like some of this is taken a little out of proportion. My net experience is that the burden of dealing with said landlord to get something fixed or maintained is roughly similar to fixing it yourself with equal pros and cons on both sides. Consider a $150 repair for your AC going out in 95F weather, 70% humidity. La…
>Whereas you can easily call and have it fixed within 5 hours if you owned it. The caveat with these sorts of fixes is these service companies will sometimes upcharge a big fee for "emergency work" to have it fixed within 5 hours rather than in two weeks. I literally had water shooting out of my ceiling and the property manager admitted as much to me when I asked why the owner left me without water for days.
True, but at least you get to answer that question, instead of your landlord.
Re: Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator
#114My wife wants to buy a house, but I'm unable to make life decisions without trying to minmax them. I wasn't satisfied with existing rent vs. buy calculators, so I decided to build my own! I'm not a developer, so I apologize if it's a little rough looking... Some things it takes into account: - The actual rate of return on your down payment and extra costs of a house - Inflation - Itemized deductions on your taxes - T…
I'd love it to provide some mechanism for guestimating my taxes (maybe based on the state or city I live in) - I was too lazy to dig out a tax return to fill out those fields, which meant I couldn't easily use the calculator.
Re: Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator
#115It would be cool if this took in zip code to automate things like property tax rate or wherever else that data is relevant. It would be interesting to have some check mark too if you are a first time home buyer to apply those benefits.
Judging by how hard it was to get a concrete answer on what my property tax would be after actually buying a house a couple months ago, I suspect this might be a big lift.
Re: Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator
#116Everyone should consider a manufactured home (mobile home) as an option. I lived in New Jersey where house prices were very high ($200,000 minimum for anything on the market). I bought a mobile home (1st house for me) for $50,000 and lived there for 6 years. Thanks to the crazy prices recently, I was able to sell it for more (this is not typical). But during the time, I paid significantly less in per-month costs than…
Be wary of mobile home parks, though. The owners of the parks are increasingly selling them to two types of folks:
1. Those who are looking to jack up rates and price people out.
2. Those who are looking to replace the park with, say, an office building or a mall.
Particularly in the 2nd case, you are being evicted. And despite the name, mobile homes are not mobile in most cases. You will lose everything. Some states are passing regulations to protect the homeowners, so check your local laws.
Re: Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator
#117Everyone should consider a manufactured home (mobile home) as an option. I lived in New Jersey where house prices were very high ($200,000 minimum for anything on the market). I bought a mobile home (1st house for me) for $50,000 and lived there for 6 years. Thanks to the crazy prices recently, I was able to sell it for more (this is not typical). But during the time, I paid significantly less in per-month costs than…
I have some friends in Texas who had their first home as a manufactured home in a trailer park. But note that the validity of mobile homes / manufactured homes depends strongly on your local culture... culture that's quite different from state-to-state, or city-to-city even.
There are plenty of locations where mobile homes were driven out by NIMBY laws, and are simply not an option.
Re: Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator
#118My wife wants to buy a house, but I'm unable to make life decisions without trying to minmax them. I wasn't satisfied with existing rent vs. buy calculators, so I decided to build my own! I'm not a developer, so I apologize if it's a little rough looking... Some things it takes into account: - The actual rate of return on your down payment and extra costs of a house - Inflation - Itemized deductions on your taxes - T…
This is missing a rate of return on the money you would otherwise use for the down payment, information on whether that return would be taxable or is sheltered in a Roth or similar tax shelter, current and anticipated tax brackets if one sees that income taxed (at both time of sale and possibly retirement), current and anticipated capital gains rates that might apply to the gains from the home sale in the future (if…
> rate of return the money you would otherwise use for the down payment
Really the most important number, but all of these suggestions are crucial to the calculation. Money that doesn't get invested in a house gets invested in other things. Pretend it's in an index fund.
Re: Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator
#119You 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 find a place to move to that's actually better.
And then your current landlord gets some shitheel realtor to rent the place who repeatedly tries to schedule showings on an hour's notice.
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.
Re: Show HN: Should I Get a House? a better rent vs. buy calculator
#120In 2021, the buy vs rent decision is a little like Should I buy a whale ranch on Mars or Venus? I suggest that the decision whether to rent a house might want to take into account that each rental ad is getting hundreds of applicants, each day - with few new ads showing up. ref: https://www.militarytimes.com/pay-benefits/mil-money/2021/07... ref: https://www.amisun.com/2021/06/27/once-in-a-generation-housi... ref: ht…
Why would you assume it's to rent a house? It's a great time to be an apartment renter in big markets like NYC. I just got 2 months free on my lease renewal and I've seen even better deals out there but I didn't want to move.