Buying versus renting at top football schools

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Students at many college campuses around the country are back to school, and the bills are coming due. Wondering if there are some corners you could have cut?

Cyberhomes recently looked at 15 of the nation’s top-ranked football schools, including USC, to see if parents would be ahead buying a house nearby and collecting checks or paying rent to someone else. They found that it made more financial sense to rent in only four of the college towns.

Los Angeles is one of those markets. A monthly mortgage payment on a single-family home in the area, according to Cyberhome’s research, is $3,163, versus only $2,270 for rent. After USC, other school markets where renting beats buying include the University of Oregon and Fresno State.

So which of the college markets look best for buyers? Penn State, the University of Oklahoma and the University of South Florida.

-- Lauren Beale

Your thoughts? Comments?