Deal Math: Could This Building Lower What You Pay for Housing?

Three answers for a 2-4 unit building you would live in: what you would pay each month, how it does as a rental, and where you would stand if you bought it instead of renting and investing. Then a rough check of whether you could buy it, and how it compares with other paths. Every box starts with a number from my data, labelled as a starting point: change any of them.

The building

Pick the metro, then type the asking price and the units. The rents start at HUD’s figures for the bedrooms you pick.

Bedrooms in each rented unit
Rent for each rented unit, per month

Not sure of the rent? Rent Estimate

Your money

What you pay now drives the monthly answer. The rest is optional and feeds the check of whether you could buy, and how other paths compare.

Not sure of the rent? Rent Estimate

Optional, and private. These stay on this page: they never go into the share link, the email or saved buildings.

Optional

Why I ask: for the FHA ratio check. Gross monthly pay of everyone on the loan.

Optional

Why I ask: car, student loan and card minimums count against you in the same check. Blank counts as $0.

Optional

Why I ask: to compare with the cash each path needs up front.

Optional

Why I ask: to estimate how many months it would take to close a cash gap.

Why I ask: renting out a room is a path only for a home you own.

Your plans

AssumptionsShow the 14 starting pointsHide

Each box holds a starting point from my data, with the reason under it. They are estimates, not facts about this building: change any of them.

Loan

Running costs

Over time

Your saved buildings

None yet. Check a building, then choose Save this building.

Saved buildings stay in this browser only, without your income, debts or savings. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Estimates, not advice: this is a screen, and not financial advice. Every figure is an estimate built from published averages, not a quote for this building. Check the numbers with a lender before you make an offer.

The Vault

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