|
buy or rent?
ok, I've read the various threads over the past year or two, and I suppose I'll have to just break down and talk to an accountant, but I seem to see varying opinions on the value of buying over renting here in SoCal. Snowman claims that after writing off the mortgage interest the payment on a $4K/mo mortgage would be less than $1600 (my current rent). I don't remember the numbers coming out that way when I was married, but I didn't pay close attention. Plus we had over double my current income due to my ex's check. Wayne otoh seems to argue that buying, especially now (assuming a correction is happening) doesn't make financial sense.
Basically if I took most of my savings I could have 10% down on a condo in the 6-7K range. There is no way I can really afford the mortgage payment every month *before* taxes unless I quit racing or having much fun. But am I going to see that much of a tax advantage to make it worthwhile? Yes, I understand the equity side of things, but not very much builds up during the first few years and given our market I'm not depending on a major increase in market value.
|