Rented normally, it costs you $2,486 a month. That is $29,831 a year, every year you hold it.

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 7.00%

Change any of these 15 and every card on this page changes with it.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

$253,510

And about $149,156 more over five years, because it loses $2,486 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

$253,510 to buy it

deposit · purchase costs · legal · fees

◧ 25% deposit, typical fees

What would have to be true?The search

No offer makes this pay

Even at $549,000 — well below the $915,000 asked — the rent still does not cover the costs. The gap is the rent against the running costs, not the price, so negotiating does not close it.

◧ worked back from the rent■ closing costs re-bandedtested down to $549,000

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby rentals, but only by searching 1.3 km

We widened the search to find them, so these are not next-door comparisons.

+101 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

our own middle half$3,395–$4,423/mo

■ 111 rentals within 1.3 km□ searched wider than our barAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

How big is it, really?The working

One figure, and nothing checking it 1,059 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

Cambridge

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.

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

−$116,357 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 $253,510 you put in. In some US states the lender cannot pursue the shortfall after a foreclosure; ask before you sign.

−$253,510+$1,010,234−$25,256−$686,250−$161,575−$116,357

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent lossesYou are down

◧ 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