Rethinking Real Estate Rent V. Buy

[zinger1457]

For myself another big reason to rent is because of how easy it is to not only pay for the walls and roof, but also the stuff inside. With one rent check I have a fully furnished kitchen, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, pots and pans, TV, bed frame, desk, chairs, couch, lamp. Even if I am going to live here for five or 10 years, dividing the cost of all that by 60 or 120 months is still significant

Most of the items you listed are not included in a typical rental. How much more per month are you paying for that fully furnished apartment compared to an unfurnished? Maybe $200-300/month? Multiply that out for 10 years and it's a significant amount of money also ($24,000-36,000).

 

[kcowan]

...Maybe $200-300/month? Multiply that out for 10 years and it's a significant amount of money also ($24,000-36,000).

Yes except that fully furnished is often presented as an option, and, if the difference is not large, it removes a major hassle. Avoiding hassle can be worth quite a bit.

 

[TomG]

zinger,
Total cost is $600 / month. Could find a place for $200 less, but that would involve the tradeoffs of a weaker location and a more strenuous search (although with a less ideal location and exhaustive search I could found something for less than $600 and a similar setup)