{"id":126188,"date":"2025-08-07T11:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T11:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/126188\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T11:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T11:20:10","slug":"renting-is-still-cheaper-than-buying-in-jacksonville-by-572-a-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/126188\/","title":{"rendered":"Renting is still cheaper than buying in Jacksonville, by $572 a month"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Renting a starter home continues to be more affordable than buying one, according to new data from Realtor.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

The national report shows renters are saving an average of $900 a month compared to what they\u2019d pay with a mortgage. In Jacksonville, that affordability gap is on full display.<\/p>\n

For Joe and Andrea Biederman, the dream of homeownership remains just out of reach, even after years of saving.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral years we\u2019ve been putting money away and holding on to it,\u201d Andrea said.<\/p>\n

The couple has been actively searching for a home and even put in a few offers. But once they factored in insurance, taxes, and homeowners association (HOA) fees, the monthly costs no longer made sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore we moved into this home, we put some offers in\u2026 and that\u2019s where we learned about the insurance, the property taxes, and the HOA fees,\u201d Joe said. \u201cVery quickly, the affordable monthly became an unaffordable monthly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrea echoed that sentiment, saying they ultimately chose to rent after realizing the numbers simply didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few years ago, at the time, we just couldn\u2019t make it work\u2026 and we found this great rental so it works for us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

According to Realtor.com, the average rent for a two-bedroom home in Jacksonville is $1,503. The average mortgage payment? More than $2,000. That\u2019s a difference of $572 every month \u2014 or 38% more to buy than to rent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the difference between $2,500 in rent versus $4,000 in a mortgage,\u201d Andrea said.\u201cThe $2,500 looks so much better on paper than paying $4,000 and strapping ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Biedermans say they can afford a down payment and other closing costs, the monthly expenses remain a barrier.<\/p>\n

What’s the Deal?<\/p>\n

Check out our weekly newsletter compiled by Consumer Investigative Reporter Tiffany Salameh.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking that monthly payment happen with all the other bills we have? That\u2019s where it doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d Joe said.<\/p>\n

Still, the desire to own a home and build equity hasn\u2019t faded. The numbers tell a story of a growing affordability crisis and a financial reality facing many first-time buyers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make it our own,\u201d Joe said. \u201cWe\u2019d love to have that as an asset.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd a proper retirement plan, I feel like that\u2019s the ultimate goal,\u201d Andrea added.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Renting a starter home continues to be more affordable than buying one, according to new…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":126189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[29397,5229,2436,3188,723,15522,7310,6459,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-126188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-addressing-affordability","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-consumer","11":"tag-fl","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-housing-crisis","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-money","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114987219634449038","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}