/lounge/ - Lounge

According to my spreadsheet projections, renting at $400 per week allows your assets to last approximately 17 years.

If you purchase a home for $325,000, your funds would last about 9 years; at $375,000, about 4 years; and at $400,000, only 1 to 2 years. The break even point where both renting and buying yield the same financial longevity, is around a $260,000 purchase price. If you purchase below this threshold, buying becomes the more financially sustainable option; if the purchase is above it, renting becomes more viable.

However If you buy a home for $325,000, you live in it without paying rent, but you still cover all ownership and living costs. Based on your financial model, your liquid assets would last about 9 years. At that point, you would have very little cash left but you still own the home.

If you then sell the home for $350,000 and lose 4% ($14,000) in agent and legal fees, you’re left with around $336,000. This new cash gives you a chance to “reset” and return to the renting scenario.

When you switch to renting from year 10 onward, you now pay $400/week in rent again, plus the same living costs you had before. Based on your spreadsheet’s cost structure and inflation, this $336,000 lasts for another 8 to 9 years.
Altogether, that gives you a total of about 17 to 18 years of financial runway: 9 years owning, followed by another 8 to 9 years renting after the sale. That’s roughly the same duration as if you had just rented from the beginning but with the benefit of housing security and stability in the first half.