First-time homebuyers are MIA -- renting

[mostlylong]

@MarkR

Well to be accurate, that $100k plus $861,627.80 of mortgage payments will get you ownership of a $1.6M house plus a place to live for 30 years.

Not sure if you caught this, but for the rent vs buy relative comparison on returns on investment, at least some on this thread are making this assumption:

@btresist

Yes, the owner has to pay a monthly mortgage, but the renter has to pay a monthly rent. The simplifying assumption is that the two cancel each other out.

So your statement about mortgage payments doesn’t matter for rent vs buy, in some of the discussion above.