(Although if the problem is her or her boyfriend's perception of the area, I don't know why she would bother doing a 1-year lease.)

The problem with our society in general is that we make a mistake by being too careless and our knee jerk reaction is to over compensate in fixing the mistake.  

Most likely it's a bad time to buy, but decide that based off the numbers rather than perceptions. 

You dropped a few "me's" in your question which is common in today's society.

Loyality seems to be a thing of the past in todays society.  

Could you be mandated by a third party (historical society, mortgage company, neighborhood association) to purchase replacement cost v actual cash value? 

Your comment: "in the 80's "traditional" was 20%" There would be no society if 20% was "Traditional" The high rates came from a failed Fed Policy and we had high inflation at the same time. :-)

It is sad that I feel the need to write this disclaimer, but it is just a byproduct of what our society has become!

@Jon H.I believe it’s largely a perception thing but perception matters when appealing to an end buyer.

It is ugly and frightening to tell the horor stories or the scams that are prevalent in society.