Rented normally, it costs you $154 a month. That is $1,848 a year, every year you hold it.

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up $154 a month — the mortgage takes 74¢ of every dollar of rent

Borrowing $23,143 less would close that shortfall — which is $23,143 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

+$1,794−$1,322−$626−$154

Rent inMortgageRunning costsShort by

The rent covers $1,794 of that — you cover $154

◧ market rent $1,794 · 51 comps2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 7.00%

Try your own numbersLive

You keep-$154/mo

All-in cash$73,538

PaybackNever

Offer−+

Deposit−+

Mortgage rate−+

Rent−+

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

$73,538

And about $9,238 more over five years, because it loses $154 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

$73,538 to buy it

deposit · purchase costs · legal · fees

◧ 25% deposit, typical fees

What would have to be true?The working

$25,000 off and it stops losing money

At the asking price you feed it $154 a month. At $237,361 the rent covers everything — leaving transfer tax of $0 at that price.

offer $237,361

asked $265,000

◧ worked back from the rent■ transfer tax re-bandedrounded down to $5,000 — the rent it works back from is an estimate

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby rentals, but only by searching 2.0 km

We widened the search to find them, past where we normally stop looking, so these are not next-door comparisons.

+41 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half$1,673–$1,924/mo

■ 51 rentals within 2.0 km□ searched wider than our barAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

How big is it, really?The working

One figure, and nothing checking it 576 sq ft

Only the agent’s figure exists for this house. Open for what that means.

□ area unchecked — agent’s own

Is it a good location?Open the map

San Diego

We hold no schools, flood or crime reading for this address yet — open for the map and what we do have. An absence here is a gap in our record, not a clean bill.

■ mapped to a point, not an address

Is there anything that stops it?The checks

We do not screen letting restrictions in this market

These are UK rules and we run no equivalent here. Not checked — never as clear.

1 we could not check · 4 do not apply to this property

■ listing last seen 19 Sep 2026

What would you walk away with, after 5 years?The five-year sums

+$2,972 after five years on the cash you put in, before tax on the sale

Less than the same cash would have made in a savings account, after tax on the interest. The savings account’s capital is not at risk; the property’s is. A fall of about 23% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the $73,538 you put in. In some US states the lender cannot pursue the shortfall after a foreclosure; ask before you sign.

−$73,538+$292,581−$7,315−$198,750−$10,007+$2,972

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou walk with

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed

What can we answer in this market?

6 of 11 questions 5 need data we do not hold in this market yet

3 of them run on numbers you set yourself, so they stay amber however good they look.

6 answered

of 11 questions

□ Coverage, not a verdict