Money / Home
Rent vs Buy Calculator
Compare renting with buying a home year by year: mortgage, down payment, buying and selling costs, property tax, upkeep, rent increases, home price growth, and what the money would earn invested, with the year buying pulls ahead.
Rent vs Buy Calculator: The calculator follows two households month by month with the same money. The buyer pays the down payment and buying costs, then the mortgage, property tax, maintenance, insurance, and service charges. The renter invests the same up-front money instead and pays rent. Each month whoever spends less invests the difference at the investment return you set. Each year it compares the buyer's wealth, the home's value after selling costs minus the remaining loan plus any investments, with the renter's investments. Runs 100% locally in your browser with zero server file uploads.
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- Home & family tools
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Buying comes out ahead after 11 years
Monthly mortgage payment $2,023. After 15 years: if you buy, $355,906; if you rent and invest the difference, $320,596.
■ Buy: home value after selling costs, minus the loan, plus investments■ Rent: investments
Year by year
| Year | Buy | Rent | Home value | Loan left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,857 | $105,414 | $412,000 | $316,423 |
| 2 | $86,291 | $119,082 | $424,360 | $312,607 |
| 3 | $102,330 | $133,002 | $437,091 | $308,535 |
| 4 | $119,001 | $147,173 | $450,204 | $304,191 |
| 5 | $136,332 | $161,592 | $463,710 | $299,555 |
| 6 | $154,354 | $176,255 | $477,621 | $294,609 |
| 7 | $173,101 | $191,159 | $491,950 | $289,332 |
| 8 | $192,604 | $206,299 | $506,708 | $283,701 |
| 9 | $212,901 | $221,670 | $521,909 | $277,694 |
| 10 | $234,029 | $237,265 | $537,567 | $271,284 |
| 11 | $256,028 | $253,076 | $553,694 | $264,444 |
| 12 | $278,939 | $269,095 | $570,304 | $257,147 |
| 13 | $302,825 | $285,330 | $587,413 | $249,361 |
| 14 | $328,413 | $302,449 | $605,036 | $241,053 |
| 15 | $355,906 | $320,596 | $623,187 | $232,189 |
A simplified model: it leaves out taxes on investment gains and home sales, mortgage interest deductions, and changes in interest rates. Treat the result as a comparison of assumptions, not advice.
Choosing the assumptions
The result depends most on how long you stay, the gap between rent and the cost of owning, and the growth rates you choose. Try a pessimistic and an optimistic case: if buying wins in both, the decision is clearer. Long-run averages are a reasonable start, such as home prices and rents growing with inflation plus a little, and a balanced investment portfolio returning a few percent above inflation.
For the mortgage alone, the mortgage payment calculator shows the full amortisation schedule, and the compound interest calculator shows how invested savings grow.
Costs people forget
Buying costs include taxes on the purchase, legal and survey fees, and a mortgage arrangement fee; selling costs include agent and legal fees. Maintenance averages about 1% of a home's value a year but arrives in lumps, such as a new roof or boiler, so keep a reserve.
How to use it
- Enter the home's price, down payment, mortgage rate, and the costs of owning it.
- Enter the rent for a similar home, how fast rents rise, and what your investments might earn.
- Read the year buying comes out ahead, the chart of both paths, and the year-by-year table.
Privacy & limitations
Everything runs in your browser; your figures are kept only in this browser.
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Frequently asked questions
Is it better to rent or buy?
It depends on how long you stay, prices, and rents. Buying has large costs at the start and end, the purchase and sale, so it usually pays off only after several years; renting keeps money free to invest. The calculator shows when buying overtakes renting under your assumptions.
What is the break-even year?
The first year in which selling the home, after paying the selling costs and the remaining mortgage, would leave you with more than the renter's investments. If you expect to move before then, renting comes out ahead.
Why does the investment return matter?
Money spent on a down payment and buying costs cannot be invested elsewhere. If investments grow faster than the home's value, renting and investing can come out ahead even over many years; if home prices grow faster, buying does.
What does it leave out?
Taxes on investment gains and on home sales, mortgage interest deductions, changes in interest rates, and the costs and pleasures that are hard to price, such as moving, stability, and the freedom to renovate. Treat it as a comparison of assumptions.
Free tool · runs in your browser · no account required