[rdl]

There are markets where the monthly cash cost of owning a home is lower than renting. It sort of looks like that could be the case in parts of the Peninsula right now -- but mainly because there just isn't much inventory either way.

Thinking like Warren Buffet ($1 today is not $1, but actually $20 after it compounds many cycles) is technically inaccurate (the correct thing is DCF/DV), but products a more correct result.

[paulgb]

Trulia/Movity did a visualization on this http://trulia.movity.com/rentvsbuy/

[rdl]

Wow, that is awesome.

The big change in the past year is that private equity and hedge funds have gotten into buying single family homes, using automation, to rent. The thing which terrifies me is that they are more efficient than random individuals as landlords, so they may all exit the market together. I've also heard that they are much more efficient at setting rents, doing so based on income in an area, vs comparables -- if they can take enough inventory out of the market, that ends up making a lot of sense.

[paulgb]

That sounds like a really interesting market, is this first-hand information or have you read about it? I'd love to read a good article on this if you know of any.

[rdl]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405311190429250457648...

[paulgb]

Thanks!