REality called wrote:
Renting the same price as mortgage payments? In what hellhole, Detroit?
And maintenance costs 1%? Is that including the 50-100k or renovations every 5-10 years? LMAO!
The condominium I rent is $1725/mo including parking and W/S/G. On Redfin I saw a unit 2 doors down "on sale" for $488k. According to Redfin calculator (more accurate than Zillow), if I bought the unit with 20% down my monthly payments including mortgage, interest, HOA, home insurance and property tax would be $2705/mo. That's not including maintenanice.
Here are the 2 possible scenarios for someone who could afford the $2705/mo payment and has $100k in cash:
(1) Put the $100k into a down payment
(2) Put the $100k into a money market and put the extra $1k/mo saved into a money market
I thought that (2) would be the obvious winner in my analysis, but even when assuming no appreciation (1) was the winner.
I wouldn't actually want to buy because I can't afford it and I want freedom and don't want to feel emotionally invested in what's basically a cookie-cutter apartment that I wouldn't want to live in long-term.