We’ve covered this many time and thought it would be good to update especially since Zillow has recently started to release something they call the breakeven horizon. This is basically how long you have to live in your home to make it “break even” financially for you. What this hopes to do is take into account things like closing costs which obviously aren’t present when you buy a home. While this is an EXCELLENT way to look at renting vs buying a home, it doesn’t help you compare apples to apples. For example, while it may take you a year and a half in Atlanta to “break even” on say $1,000 a month rental vs buying situation, it doesn’t show you that the difference in property that you could get in this scenario. So let’s look:
First let’s talk about what the parameters are. We’ll be looking for a place to rent for $1,000 a month and $1,500 a month. We could go higher but seriously, if you’re paying more than this, you shouldn’t be renting. So let’s see if we can answer the question: When Does It Make Sense To Buy A Home Vs Rent?
Key Numbers for our Rent VS Buying a home discussion
- $1,000 a month rental translates roughly to a $200,000 home (with today’s interest rates)
- $1,500 a month rental translates roughly to a $300,000 home
- Zillow says in Atlanta “metro” it takes 1.4 years to break even
Atlanta Rent VS Buy $1,000 Month
When you look at what you could buy in Atlanta vs rent for $1,000 it’s pretty scary to be honest. Mainly because “good neighborhood” is block by block.
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| $1000 a month gets you 3 bedrooms and in most cases at least 1.5 bathrooms. At roughly 1,200 Square feet this home was one the best in all of Atlanta. | This home is priced at $189,900 in a popular school district and has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths and is near 2,000 Square Feet. |
Atlanta Rent VS Buy $1,500 Month
Let’s look in the Suburbs
Gwinnett County Rent VS Buy $1,000 Month
Gwinnett County Rent VS Buy $1,500 Month
Cobb County Rent VS Buy $1,000 Month
Cobb County Rent VS Buy $1,500 Month
Other Popular Cities:
Alpharetta Rent VS Buy $1,000 Month
Alpharetta Rent VS Buy $1,500 Month
Brookhaven Rent VS Buy $1,000 Month
Brookhaven Rent VS Buy $1,500 Month
Sandy Springs Rent VS Buy $1,000 Month
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Sandy Springs Rent VS Buy $1,500 Month
Related Real Estate Resources: