The honest break-even — counting what it costs to sell, and what the down payment would have earned if it stayed invested. Both are usually left out, and both favour renting.
What rent you can carry against take-home pay, what a landlord will screen you on, and the gap between the two.
Income, savings, and debts in — max home price and qualification signal out.
Estimated all-in monthly payment for a home price you have in mind.
Nearly every deposit dispute is really one argument: is this damage, or is it wear and tear? Here is where the line actually sits, what the statutes permit, and the deadline that ends the argument before it starts.
Twenty-seven states cap what a landlord can hold. Twenty-three do not. The deadline to return it runs from 14 days to 60, and twelve states owe you interest on it — three rules that decide most deposit disputes before anyone argues about the carpet.
Five gates, in order, each with a number you can compute. Includes the 50-state break-even table built from each state's own property tax, insurance and appreciation — and why that table is not a forecast.
The cash a move actually takes, split into what comes back and what never does — because a deposit and an application fee are different kinds of money and averaging them hides the real cost. Covers the lines people plan for and the ones they do not: the overlap month when two leases run at once, utility deposits, cleaning the old place, and unpaid time off. Gives you the total as a multiple of one month's rent so you can see whether yours is normal, a straight answer on whether your cash covers it, and a before-you-sign checklist built around the evidence that actually decides a deposit dispute.