For renters
Should you buy, or stay where you are?
Nobody should buy a house because their landlord put the rent up. Buying wins under some conditions and loses under others, and the conditions are knowable. Here they are, with your numbers in them.
Where you would stand, year by year
What you would be worth if you sold up and walked away at the end of each year, after the costs of selling.
The honest summary
How long you will stay decides this far more than the interest rate does. Buying carries a large cost at both ends, and it takes years to earn that back. If you might move for work, or you are not sure about the area, renting is not the mistake people tell you it is.
If it does come out close, ring us. We will tell you what we honestly think, and sometimes that is to wait.
Illustrative. Nobody knows what homes or investments will do, and small changes to those two numbers move the answer a lot. Change them and see.
Property tax rates are measured from closed sales in the last year rather than taken from a millage table, so they already include county, city, school and fire district. Selling costs are set at 7.5% of the sale price, which covers commission, documentary stamps and title. Buying costs are set at 2.5%.