Since (many) people rent/purchase based on…
…monthly payments, I’ve always thought it would be interesting to mix rentals and homes-for-sale based on this criteria. But now that I see it in action on HotPads, I’m not so sure (although it might just be the pulsating graphics that got to me). The folks at HotPads tried to help out by providing lots of variables that can be changed on the listing detail page (look for the Buy Vs. Rent Calc Tab), but my guess is that the results are sure to baffle the average consumer more than help.
In retrospect, I think the flaw in the logic is that people do not make the rent-vs-buy decision on a property-by-property basis.
About the Author: Dustin Luther
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[...] while the concept is intriguing, 4Realz calls Hotpads’ implemention of the feature a bit baffling – and I tend to agree. It took me a few minutes to figure out how it was supposed to work. I also [...]
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[...] Hotpads Gives You the Monthly Breakdown. Joel gives an interesting breakdown of Hotpads new features (including a map-based rent-vs-buy tool) [...]