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Applied Mathematics Science Fair Project

Buying vs. Renting at Different Incomes

Hard
Buying vs. Renting at Different Incomes | Science Fair Projects | STEM Projects
Does buying a home actually build more wealth than renting over 15 or 30 years? You compare real prices for recently sold and rented homes and apartments in the same area. Then you model four annual salaries from $24,000 to $60,000. For each income level you calculate mortgage payments at different down payments. You also factor in bills, salary growth, rent increases, and property value changes. A 15-year mortgage and a 30-year mortgage are both tested. The results show that purchased apartments build the most wealth over time. Rented homes build the least. A higher down payment sharply reduces the total interest paid.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that buying an apartment will be the most economical option, followed by renting an apartment, buying a house, and renting a house.

Method & Materials

You will gather data on recently sold and rented apartments and houses in the same area, size, and number of rooms. You will also gather data on bills and expenses from 15 families with five members. You will then calculate the mortgage rate, rent increase, salary increase, savings, and property value increase.
You will need data on recently sold and rented apartments and houses in the same area, size, and number of rooms. You will also need data on bills and expenses from 15 families with five members. You will also need to calculate the mortgage rate, rent increase, salary increase, savings, and property value increase.

Results

The results showed that buying an apartment was the most economical option, followed by renting an apartment, buying a house, and renting a house. 15-year mortgages were cheaper, and a down payment lowered the lost money from interest significantly.

Why do this project?

This science project is interesting because it looks at the financial decisions of buying and renting a house from different incomes and helps to determine which is the better option.

Also Consider

Experiment variations to consider include looking at different down payments and different mortgage lengths.

Full project details

Additional information and source material for this project are available below.
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