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

shouldigetahouse.com

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

#121

Post by aftergibson »

carabiner wrote: post #99
drfuchs wrote: post #47

Where do I enter the intangible value of owning: "Don't have to worry about getting priced out if the neighborhood becomes popular; can do any improvements I want, when I want, how I want, and they become an asset; don't have to worry about not getting lease renewed at an inconvenient time (perhaps in the middle of a school year) when the owner's nephew gets divorced and needs a place; on the other hand, don't have t…

> can do any improvements I want, when I want This is the main thing I'm wondering about. Most people I know who own homes enjoy working on them. Home improvement becomes a hobby that they like, whether it's basic plumbing or painting the walls or building a deck. I despise this work (even though I do basic carpentry), and I fully consider it work that detracts from my life. It's like doing the dishes, it's a chore,…

I felt the exact same way, I bought because I had a few rental properties in a row that would take us in, then kick us after the minimum contract length. Nothing to do with us, just selling, renovating and driving up rent etc.

I got so sick of moving a family with an energetic one year old, I just recently purchased a place. Now my extended family has come to help on the house and I’ve found the work surprisingly pleasing(where I felt I have always hated this type of work).

After so many years moving pixels around on a screen, physical work with a group of people is just, nice.

But that’s just me, I’m sure you very well might still hate it but I was pleasantly surprised.

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

#122

Post by smileysteve »

waylandsmithers wrote: post #43

One 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…

But if you go with 3% down, add pmi to your monthly payment and it's going to be tough to be in the same ballpark as a rental.

Example: 377k home, 3% down is a $1461 payment; the $673 of equity you build each month is offset by $300 of pmi (not tax deductible). To sell will cost 6% (~24k if it appreciates to 400k). The likelihood of this being > rent of a equivalent home or leaving you underwater in 3 years is high.

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

#123

Post by asdff »

kube-system wrote: post #106
asdff wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You still hear of people in these markets snagging homes for like 5% down even with the competition. Maybe I misunderstand, but you don't pay any realtor any money until you buy the home. Seems that there isn't any pain being 'in the market' continually getting out offered 99 times out of 100, if it means you get an offer that one time and are going to be renting anyway until then. Plus the whole time you are presuma…

Yes, but if you make an offer contingent on bank financing, and someone else makes an offer contingent on nothing, which offer would you choose as a seller? Guaranteed money now? or probably getting money after the bank completes their paperwork? Many people selling a home already have another home somewhere else, and they're not interested in keeping around another empty house to make payments on.

Not all offers are going to be all cash. People still buy homes putting down 5% or less in these hot markets, even if its not as common.

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

#124

Post by cperciva »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #98

In 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…

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.

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

#125

Post by alach11 »

anotherman554 wrote: post #89
alach11 wrote: post #2

My 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…

The best/ most powerful rent vs buy calculator I am aware of is the one offered here: https://michaelbluejay.com/house/rentvsbuy.html browsing it might give you some ideas of features you can add to your calculator. It's also a small thing but having the choice to select the downpayment based on percentage down might be nice. I don't know why your calculator tells me getting a house is not worth even if it thinks the…

The determination of whether to buy the house is based on the calculated rate of return. So even if you make a profit, if the time horizon is large you’d be better off investing that money in stocks.

The UI doesn’t make that clear enough.

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

#126

Post by pessimizer »

Finnucane wrote: post #7
alach11 wrote: post #2

My 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…

Probably want to allow for the possibility of rent rises over time. One thing that I think this actually shows pretty well is the notion that part of the answer depends on how long you intend to stay in a place. If you expect to move in two or three years, it's probably not worth the hassle/expense of buying. If you intend to stay 5+ years in one place, it makes more sense to buy.

> Probably want to allow for the possibility of rent rises over time.

Isn't that counting inflation twice?

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

#127

Post by cpursley »

pimlottc wrote: post #30
gus_massa wrote: post #4

"Apartment" means rent and "House" means buying? I think that's confusing. It would be nice to auto update the graph every time something changes. It's nice that it has tips. Hi from Argentina! We have a somewhat different customs here so some fields are hard to guess. For example, I don't know if I can fill my taxes jointly. Another detail that confused me is that I didn't expect to sell the home after 14 years. It'…

Agree with the terminology being confusing. Houses can be rented and apartments (condominiums) can be purchased.

In North American lingo, "apartment" exclusively means a multi-family unit that you rent and don't own. If you own a multi-family unit it is a Condo (condominium) and never refered to as an Apartment. I know, confusing.

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

#128

Post by jaqalopes »

293984j29384 wrote: post #120
WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #98

In 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.

Same here in Somerville outside Boston. There was a giant exodus last year due to COVID and landlords are desperate for any warm body even at a steep discount from the former rent.

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

#129

Post by pessimizer »

drfuchs wrote: post #47

Where do I enter the intangible value of owning: "Don't have to worry about getting priced out if the neighborhood becomes popular; can do any improvements I want, when I want, how I want, and they become an asset; don't have to worry about not getting lease renewed at an inconvenient time (perhaps in the middle of a school year) when the owner's nephew gets divorced and needs a place; on the other hand, don't have t…

> Don't have to worry about getting priced out if the neighborhood becomes popular

That's what property taxes are for.

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

#130

Post by quickthrower2 »

mandeepj wrote: post #9

Buying is better, if you are thinking a bit long term like 4-5+ Years. Now, why I said that: Here’s my story - I had lived in an apartment for 5 years. It’s my longest stretch at one place so far. I paid about $100k in rent for all of those years. When I left that place, I got nothing out of it. If I had a house, then I would had built some equity. Edit: removed - ‘Buying is always better’ from the first sentence

The point of a calculator is to check this. If you could have invested more money in retirement account because you are renting you might end up ahead.
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