[Ryno]

I'm just saying that you have to carry a 1.8mil asset somehow, either by renting it, or by owning it and paying interest. You can ignore the "principal" payment in the mortgage - you are just paying yourself. So if you are going to evaluate on a total cost to own, you would do rent vs. interest-only mortgage - tax deduction + property taxes + maintenance. And I was saying that rent is about the same as the (IO mortgage - tax deduction) alone. The other variable is asset appreciation, which only the owner gets, but you need that to cover taxes + maintenance just to break even.