09/29/2025
Hey, it’s me again! 🚀
I built another small R Shiny side project: an interactive app for that classic (and sometimes painful) question —
👉 What if I had rented and invested instead of buying a home?
The app compares buying vs. renting + investing the difference with real market data and a full cost model. You enter your purchase details and the equivalent rent at that time (rent also determines how much you could have invested monthly), then watch both net-worth paths evolve.
It goes far beyond mortgage vs. rent, fully accounting for:
- Property tax
- Mortgage interest deduction
- HOA dues (with growth)
- Maintenance
- Homeowners insurance
- Transaction & selling costs
- Capital gains taxes
- Refinancing rules
On the investment side, it assumes you invest not only the down payment but also the monthly savings from renting—compounded over time (SPY or any ticker).
💡 Back then, would you have had the courage to put a big lump sum into the stock market all at once?
It’s been fun toggling cities, timelines, rates, and appreciation paths. A nice reminder: real-estate decisions aren’t just about today’s price—they’re about the whole financial picture.
📍Due to data size, the app currently supports city-level data in CA, TX, NY, and FL only.
Link is in comment!
