Rent vs Buy Calculator

Anyone weighing whether to keep renting or buy a home, who wants a fuller picture than just comparing rent to a mortgage payment. The real comparison has to account for the money you get back when you sell.

Buying isn't just the mortgage. This calculator adds your down payment, closing costs, every mortgage payment, property tax, and maintenance over the years you stay — then subtracts what you walk away with when you sell (the home's value, minus selling costs and the remaining loan).

Renting is simpler: it's the rent you pay, rising a little each year. Whichever total is lower over your time horizon is the cheaper choice.

Buying usually loses in the early years because of the large upfront and transaction costs, then pulls ahead as you build equity and the home appreciates. The break-even year is when buying's running total first drops below renting's — stay longer than that and buying tends to win.

This is a planning estimate. It assumes roughly 3% closing costs to buy and 6% to sell, and leaves out PMI, HOA dues, homeowners insurance, and the investment return you could earn by investing your down payment instead. Adjust the assumptions to match your market.