[jlj]

> A mortgage payment is always less than rent for an equivalent property, anyway.

Not always, though they often track closely to reach other, they can also diverge. If rent is high and home prices are low that could be a good signal to buy.

And you also have to consider what you equity would be doing if it was invested in something other than your house.

[dawg-]

It’s true, and maintenance costs can easily erase the difference in any case. I wouldn’t say owning is definitively better financially than renting, but i do think it is better in general.

[thrwn_frthr_awy]

> > A mortgage payment is always less than rent for an equivalent property, anyway

Yeah, I don’t understand these statements. It is clear that people making them do not have experience is real estate or only have experience in specific markets. There are absolutely many real estate markets where the rent is more than the mortgage, and anyone with enough real estate knowledge to give advice would know this.

[bonzini]

> There are absolutely many real estate markets where the rent is more than the mortgage

That's what the quote is saying.

[thrwn_frthr_awy]

Ahh you are correct! My point is there are many markets where rent is cheaper and there are many markets where mortgage is cheaper. Anyone saying that is only one of those is going to cause me concern.

[sys_64738]

It depends on what you're comparing. A crappy apt in a dodgy neighborhood or renting a house in a nice neighborhood. If you're renting that house you want to buy then you'll likely be paying the landlord's mortgage and then some. Generally it holds that mortgage is less for same type of property you're renting in equivalent neighborhoods of same geo.

[cko]

If that were true then no landlord would be cash flowing if they bought the property with a mortgage.

[leetcrew]

nothing nonsensical about this. would just mean that most landlords would have to rent out properties they own outright. in such a market a sufficiently large entity could potentially get better loan terms that allow them to build/buy a building and still achieve positive cashflow. or it might be okay with having negative cashflow while building equity over time (to break even in the long run, rent only has to exceed the interest + maintenance). this could even be a mechanism by which rent < typical mortgage payment in the first place.