Rent vs. Buy Calculator
Compare the total cost of renting against buying a home over a set period, including equity and appreciation.
About this calculator
This calculator compares the total cost of renting against the total cost of buying a home over a set time horizon. For buying it adds up your down payment, closing costs, mortgage payments, property tax, insurance, HOA, and maintenance, then subtracts the equity you'd have at the end (home value at that point, minus the remaining loan balance, minus selling costs). For renting it sums your rent over the period — increased each year by your assumed rate — plus renters insurance. The "break-even year" is the first year where buying becomes cheaper than renting once equity is factored in. The model is a planning tool and does not include tax effects or the opportunity cost of investing your down payment.
Field explanations
- Years to compare
- Time horizon for the comparison. After this many years, the buyer is assumed to sell the home.
- Home price
- Purchase price of the home.
- Down payment ($ and %)
- Upfront cash toward the home. The two fields stay in sync.
- Interest rate
- Annual mortgage interest rate.
- Loan term (years)
- Length of the mortgage. Affects monthly P&I and remaining balance at the horizon.
- Annual property tax
- Yearly property tax bill.
- Annual home insurance
- Yearly homeowners insurance premium.
- Monthly HOA
- Homeowners association dues per month.
- Maintenance (% of home/yr)
- Annual upkeep cost as a percentage of current home value. A common rule of thumb is ~1% per year.
- Annual appreciation
- Expected yearly rate of home-value growth.
- Closing costs
- One-time costs paid at purchase, as a percentage of home price.
- Selling costs
- Costs paid at sale (agent fees, etc.), as a percentage of the sale price.
- Monthly rent
- Starting monthly rent.
- Annual rent increase
- Expected yearly rent growth applied at the start of each year.
- Renters insurance (monthly)
- Monthly renters insurance premium.