patrick.net

I'm actually looking at a property to buy as a cash buyer. At the right price of course. San Antonio is in a Real Estate bubble based on average salaries.

When your property tax is $9000 per year (e.g. Santa Cruz, CA) it sure makes you wonder just what is the great benefit of owning.

Fast-rising home prices and higher mortgage rates have made it cheaper to rent a home than buy and own one. The monthly costs of buying and owning a home that you occupy are up 14 percent over the past year, more than three times the annual increase in rent rates nationally, according to Realtor.com. Rents are up just 4 percent. Renting and reinvesting the savings from renting, on average, will outperform owning and building home equity, in terms of wealth creation.

As if this were news!

Still, it's nice to see a little questioning of the bogus mainstream "wisdom" that buying is always better. It varies a lot. The only thing you can really count on is that if a house is being advertised by a realtor, that means the realtor and his friends agree it's overpriced. If it were really a good deal, they would buy it and flip it for more.

clambo says

When your property tax is $9000 per year (e.g. Santa Cruz, CA) it sure makes you wonder just what is the great benefit of owning.

$9K? That's low for BA.