Dan Ganek wrote:

JazzMan wrote:
SoCalMike wrote:


is it really? how much does your rent go up each year? my payments will
be the same 30 years from now as they are today. will your rent
payments? i doubt it. no such thing as FREE, chachi. and if i pay it off
early? its mine. youll still be paying rent forever.



Actually, your payment will be substantially higher due to
property tax increases, assuming you live outside of California
that is. I co-owned a house with my father back in the 80's,
and during those 7 years the house payment (which included
payments into an escrow account for taxes and insurance) went
up from $645 to almost $900, a better than 35% increase. I
can assure you that the family income did not increase by
anywhere near the same amount in that time.

I worked out a formula once that included among other items
the interest paid over the life of the loan, and determined
that it was very unlikely that a house could be sold for
what the interest alone cost, and that was in spite of the
interest deduction.

But you didn't take into account the rent you weren't paying.
To get an realistic estimate of what it actually cost you need
to subtract your typical rent payment over the years from your PIT.

/dan

Rent prices around here tend to say within the same general
range as house payments for equivalent sizes, with the rent
being a little higher most of the time. Unless one pays cash
for a house there will always be a payment due every month for
shelter. Being in a house is better than an apartment from the
sense that a house may or may not break even over the life of
the mortgage, but rent is a total loss. From a strict sense of
just cash outlay from the monthly budget it's a wash either way.

JazzMan
--
************************************************** ********
Please reply to jsavage"at"airmail.net.
Curse those darned bulk e-mailers!
************************************************** ********
"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry
************************************************** ********