Journal Article

Buy a home or rent? A better way to choose


Abstract: Knowing whether buying a home is a better financial move for a family than renting requires a consideration of costs and options that people often neglect to factor in. One aspect of the calculation that is almost always overlooked is uncertainty--the fact that no matter how good one's estimates of the future are, the future can turn out differently than projected. Incorporating uncertainty into the rent-or-buy calculation gives potential homebuyers information that can improve their decisions. While incorporating uncertainty is complicated, it's made easier with the Cleveland Fed's online calculator.

Keywords: Home ownership; Rental housing; Households - Finance;

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File(s): File format is text/html https://doi.org/10.26509/frbc-ec-201106
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Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Part of Series: Economic Commentary

Publication Date: 2011

Issue: Apr

Order Number: 6