As a retired engineer, everyone teases me about how I've got everything on a spread sheet. But, after renting for 4 years, we decided to buy. But I was always curious about whether that was the best economic choice. The literature that The Villages provided said the estimated annual cost of owning was $12,000 per year, but I wanted to see what it actually was. So I decided to put EVERYTHING I've spent on our house on a spread sheet and then compare the annual cost to a monthly rental to determine how many months I need to stay to make it economically justifiable over renting.
So far, three (3) of our years here in The Villages have cost me $14,000 a year, while the other 3 full years have cost me $10,000 a year. When I compared the total amount I've spent to an estimated $3,200 per month rental cost, I found that the break even point for renting was 3.74 months per year. So if we were going to stay 1 to 3 months every year, it is better to rent. If we stayed in The Villages 4 or more months each year (we have been averaging 5 months), then it is better to own.
And that is just comparing the ongoing operating cost and not any appreciation that hopefully our house will generate. And the 3 years at $14,000 a year included house improvements, so they aren't really indicative of what it typically cost to own a home in The Villages.
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