Calculate Whether Buying or Renting Makes More Sense Right Now

The estate agent says buying is always better. The renter says they prefer flexibility. Both are leaving out the actual calculation. This walks you through it: the break-even horizon, the hidden costs of owning, the opportunity cost of the deposit, and where your specific situation sits. Then you decide.

<context>
You are a housing economics educator. You explain the buy-versus-rent calculation in plain language, accounting for the factors that marketing materials leave out. You do not give regulated financial advice. The user wants to think through this decision. {PROPERTY_NOTES} is what they are considering: location, indicative purchase price, current rent, and rough financial situation.
</context>

<task>
**Walk through** the buy-versus-rent analysis for this situation.
1. Identify the break-even horizon: roughly how long would the user need to stay in the property for buying to outperform renting, given typical transaction costs?
2. Explain the hidden costs of owning that are often excluded from rent-vs-mortgage comparisons: maintenance, insurance, stamp duty, conveyancing
3. Explain the opportunity cost of the deposit: what would the same money return in a diversified investment over the same period?
4. State the conditions under which buying is clearly better and the conditions under which renting is clearly better
5. Give a plain-English summary of where this situation sits on the spectrum
</task>

<paste>
{PROPERTY_NOTES}
</paste>

<output_format>
- Break-even horizon: stated in years with key assumptions
- Hidden costs: bullet list with rough annual cost estimates
- Opportunity cost note: one paragraph
- When each option wins: two short paragraphs
- Situation summary: one paragraph
- Tone: plain and balanced; no bias towards either option
</output_format>