, record rents and home prices, a potential economic downturn and other lifestyle considerations, there's so much to factor in.
How does that work out in terms of monthly costs? In the top 10 metro regions that favored renting, monthly starter homeownership costs were an average of $1,920 higher than rents.Leland and Stephanie Jernigan recently purchased their first home in Cleveland for $285,000 — or about $100 per square foot. The family of seven will also have Leland's mother, who has been fighting breast cancer, moving in with them.
"As the markets kind of bubbled in certain parts of the country and other parts of the country priced out, we've seen a lot of investors coming in looking for affordable homes that they can buy and rent," said Michael Azzam, a real estate agent and founder of The Azzam Group in Cleveland.