There's the famous NY Times buy-vs-rent calculator, for direct comparison of buying vs. renting costs, for given time-frames and other variables.The thing about most analysis of buy versus rent on the time factor is they will say renting is cheaper if you stay less than X years due to closing costs, etc. The problem with that is even if it worked out to be cheaper by some amount that amount isn't usually life changing. Also usually the savings in rent is from living in shabby apartments, it doesn't usually come with equal quality habitat.
By contrast, what the last 5 years has shown is that being out of the housing market carries a real risk that renters will take a massive hit in a home prices and rents raising scenario, one that is life changing. Its less certain to happen, but its more consequential. ...
From personal experience, the primary advantage of renting is that it sidesteps the idiosyncratic risk of either buying a money-pit, or buying in a market that's about to crash (and not soon recover). Most people don't face this problem, but those who do, suffer dearly. The secondary advantage is potentially getting a higher rate of return on the cash that would have gone towards buying. But it sounds like the OP would be keeping the cash as cash, hence with a small rate of return.
I think that ultimately, buying is the reward and the privilege of staying in one place. For a person who's committed to some area, who can avoid a blunder and who doesn't have a screamingly compelling alternative investment, buying sounds compelling. But run that NYT calculator to confirm.
Statistics: Posted by unwitting_gulag — Mon Oct 28, 2024 2:07 am