Stephanie is considering moving to one of the locations: Location A or Location B$.$ She has $$150,000$ cash in hand$/$down payment and is approved to loan up to $$400,000$ at a $6\%$ mortgage interest rate. She expects the home sales price in Location A will be $$210,000$ and the price in Location B will be $$545,000$ in the next year.

Location A Location B

Sales price $$200,000$ $$500,000$

Monthly rent $$1,400$ $$3,000$

Property tax rate $3\%5\%$

$*$For simplification, we assume individuals sell their property in the next year if they choose to buy now. Ignore tax deductions, inflation, psychological costs$/$benefits$,$ closing fees, and other miscellaneous costs when calculating the cost of owning. We also assume the assessed value in property tax is the same as the transaction price $(=$home sales price$).$

$*$Use the $1\%$ rule of thumb in estimating the annual maintenance cost and $10\%$ annual stock market return in estimating the expected capital gain in the alternative investment.