How to calculate a home's value

While a P/E ratio is helpful for determining whether a home is a good buy, consumers should examine a home's "dividend" to see whether or not owning a home really pays off, Smith advises.

For the home in suburban Chicago described above, assuming a 20 percent down payment on the home, a 30 year fixed rate mortgage at 6 percent would have a monthly payment of approximately $1,920 (rounded up). Here's an example of how a consumer would plug in various numbers to calculate a home dividend. Utilities are not factored in, as renters often pay those separately.

The negative home "dividend" in this example suggests, just as the home's P/E ratio does, that it may be more advantageous to rent -- unless you plan to stay put for several years or more. "Even when the home dividend is negative, over time homeowning pays off, since your housing costs are relatively fixed, and rental rates will increase," notes Smith.

In his book, Smith looks at another example of a home's dividend -- a three-bedroom home purchased in the Indianapolis suburb of Fishers for $135,000 with a 20 percent down payment. The same home would rent for approximately $15,000 a year. It's key to make an "apples to apples" comparison, finding the price of renting a single family home that's very similar to the single family home being purchased.

Smith tallies up all the costs of ownership (mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance) and then compares that to all the benefits of owning -- which include the $15,000 rent "savings" and the income tax savings from mortgage interest and property tax write-offs. For the Fishers, Ind. home, the annual dividend comes out to more than $5,000.

Unless you stay in the home for just a year or two, it's more profitable to buy than rent in places like Fishers. If you move again quickly, however, real estate commissions and moving expenses will eat up the dividend.

Like Fishers, lots of other areas offer generous home dividends. "Much of the heartland does, and other places, too, like the Dallas and Atlanta areas," Smith says.