Quote:
Originally Posted by Crawford
In my experience, no. I spend around the same or slightly less in NYC.
New Yorkers are mostly renting, so they aren't in condos or rowhouses. I find everything (besides housing) to be the same or less than in Michigan.
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I'm absolutely okay with comparing apples-to-pears (i.e. Michigan SFH with a nice yard and driveway to a NYC condo or, at best, a little rowhouse) but I'm definitely not okay with comparing renting to owning, since the main reason why I am saying that Michigan will cost you less is that on a limited budget in Michigan, you can easily own, while in NYC, you are sure to be stuck renting.
So, I'm going to say you can't just throw that factor out of the window. In your renting-to-owning comparison, sure, it might "cost" you the same every month out of pocket, but you've really gotta factor that the principal part of your mortage payment is not a cost, but rather forced savings. And then you have to consider the potential appreciation of the house, if only through inflation.
So, yes, you can make ends meet equally well in both Michigan or NYC, but after ~15 years of that you're basically "given" a free-and-clear Michigan SFH.
(And at that point, there's not only all that equity that you own, there's also the fact that your cost of living will then drop by quite a bit -- no more mortgage payments. For Michigan only, of course -- the NYC renter will be paying just as much as ever, and in fact certainly more, considering that regular rent increases are almost guaranteed.)