<story><title>How Many Years of Life Does That House Cost?</title><url>https://nation.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=de7f932e3a1d494f9c9d9a67fb0de646</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sbenitoj</author><text>You also have to factor in the opportunity cost of what you could&amp;#x27;ve done with that down payment (e.g. What would a $100k downpayment invested for 30 years in the stock market be worth vs how much is that worth in your home in 30 years?)&lt;p&gt;The NYT has a buy vs rent calculator that helps make some of these decisions:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;interactive&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;upshot&amp;#x2F;buy-rent-calculator.html?_r=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;interactive&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;upshot&amp;#x2F;buy-rent-cal...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>lpolovets</author><text>I liked the visualization and data, but I don&amp;#x27;t think it makes sense to compare home prices to wages w&amp;#x2F;o considering alternatives to home ownership. Home prices don&amp;#x27;t exit in a vacuum. That is, if a home is 10x the median salary, you can&amp;#x27;t really say &amp;quot;well, if I didn&amp;#x27;t buy a home I could work 10 years less.&amp;quot; That&amp;#x27;s because the alternative to buying is renting, which is also expensive. So sure, a mortgage in SF is $6k&amp;#x2F;mo. But rent might be $6k&amp;#x2F;mo as well -- and you don&amp;#x27;t earn any equity or tax write-offs while renting.&lt;p&gt;I think what the alternative title to this blog post could be is: &amp;quot;How many years of life does that city cost?&amp;quot; What it&amp;#x27;s really comparing is the relative cost of having a roof over your head in different areas. Would you rather work 40 years and live in SF or work 30 years and live in rural Wisconsin? (I don&amp;#x27;t have an opinion on those two options. I&amp;#x27;m sure there are many people in both of those places that are happy with their choices.)</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>scottLobster</author><text>Another factor would be the opportunity cost of moving.  With an apartment you&amp;#x27;re free as soon as the lease is up.  With a house, even if you get a job across the country the mortgage must be paid.  The time investment alone in preparing a house for sale&amp;#x2F;selling it is nothing to scoff at.</text></comment>
<story><title>How Many Years of Life Does That House Cost?</title><url>https://nation.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=de7f932e3a1d494f9c9d9a67fb0de646</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sbenitoj</author><text>You also have to factor in the opportunity cost of what you could&amp;#x27;ve done with that down payment (e.g. What would a $100k downpayment invested for 30 years in the stock market be worth vs how much is that worth in your home in 30 years?)&lt;p&gt;The NYT has a buy vs rent calculator that helps make some of these decisions:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;interactive&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;upshot&amp;#x2F;buy-rent-calculator.html?_r=0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;interactive&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;upshot&amp;#x2F;buy-rent-cal...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>lpolovets</author><text>I liked the visualization and data, but I don&amp;#x27;t think it makes sense to compare home prices to wages w&amp;#x2F;o considering alternatives to home ownership. Home prices don&amp;#x27;t exit in a vacuum. That is, if a home is 10x the median salary, you can&amp;#x27;t really say &amp;quot;well, if I didn&amp;#x27;t buy a home I could work 10 years less.&amp;quot; That&amp;#x27;s because the alternative to buying is renting, which is also expensive. So sure, a mortgage in SF is $6k&amp;#x2F;mo. But rent might be $6k&amp;#x2F;mo as well -- and you don&amp;#x27;t earn any equity or tax write-offs while renting.&lt;p&gt;I think what the alternative title to this blog post could be is: &amp;quot;How many years of life does that city cost?&amp;quot; What it&amp;#x27;s really comparing is the relative cost of having a roof over your head in different areas. Would you rather work 40 years and live in SF or work 30 years and live in rural Wisconsin? (I don&amp;#x27;t have an opinion on those two options. I&amp;#x27;m sure there are many people in both of those places that are happy with their choices.)</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Retric</author><text>The real opportunity cost is not living somewhere else.  Run the math and SF is best avoided.</text></comment>