$_____ (your monthly rent) x 200 = $_____ (this is how much home you can afford).

 Example:

 $1400 (your monthly rent) x 200 = $280,000 (this is how much home you can afford).

 Surprised? This is how much home you could afford to buy and have the same approximate monthly payments. (Of course, if your rental payment is below fair market value, this formula won't apply to you!)

 Well, there's your rule-of-thumb. Want to get more specific? Go to www.quicken.com

 ... and click on Home Loans, then Mortgage Tools, then click on Rent vs. Buy.

It will ask you for a few numbers and it will compare, side-by-side, your short-term monthly savings and your long-term savings.

Renters often have trouble figuring out whether they can afford to buy. They know how much rent they can afford, but can't figure out if the tax savings is really beneficial.

In the Quicken website, I used the above example and input a $1400 monthly rental amount, a $280,000 purchase price, a $1.00 down payment, income as $4,000/month, and filing status as married filing jointly ...

When I pressed the calculate button, the website told me I would save over $50,000 in the next 7 years. It also indicated a monthly savings of $707 by purchasing instead of renting!

Try it yourself!

When you're ready to start your homesearch, visit www.OpenHouseCafe.info