Your inputs

Compare renting and buying

Monthly rent

What you would pay to rent a comparable home each month.

Home price

Purchase price of the home you would buy, up to $100,000,000.

Down payment

Cash toward the purchase. Must be less than the home price.

Mortgage interest rate

Expected mortgage rate on the purchase, from 0% through 25%.

Loan term

Years you will stay

How long you expect to stay, in whole years from 1 through 50.

Advanced assumptions

Annual rent increase

How much rent rises each year. A common assumption is 3%.

Annual property tax

Yearly property tax as a percent of home value. A common assumption is 1.1%.

Annual maintenance

Yearly upkeep as a percent of home value. A common assumption is 1%.

Annual home appreciation

How much the home gains in value each year. A common assumption is 3%.

Selling cost

Agent and closing costs when you sell, as a percent of the sale price. A common assumption is 6%.

Your inputs are calculated locally and are not stored.

The verdictBuying wins after year 3

Buying is cheaper by $53,962 over 7 years.

Total rent cost: $183,899.09
Net buy cost: $129,937.32
Savings: $53,961.77

Cumulative cost over time — where the lines cross is your break-even year.

Formula & methodology

How rent vs. buy is calculated

The renting side adds up every month of rent over your time frame, growing rent each year by the rent-increase assumption. The buying side adds the down payment, mortgage payments, property taxes, and maintenance over the same period, then subtracts the home’s appreciated value net of selling costs and the remaining loan balance. Whichever total is lower is the cheaper option, and the difference is your savings.

Total rent = Σ monthly rent, grown each year
Net buy cost = Down + Mortgage + Taxes + Maintenance − Net sale proceeds
Savings = |Total rent − Net buy cost|

Net sale proceeds: Appreciated home value − selling costs − remaining balance
Time frame: The number of years you expect to stay

Worked example

$2,000 rent vs. a $400,000 home with $80,000 down, over 7 years

Renting at $2,000 per month with 3% annual increases totals about $183,899.09 over 7 years. Buying a $400,000 home with $80,000 down at a 6% rate over 30 years — including property tax, maintenance, 3% appreciation, and 6% selling costs — nets out to about $129,937.32 after you sell. Buying is cheaper by about $53,961.77 over that 7-year window.

This is an educational estimate based only on the values you enter. It does not look up live rents or prices and is not investment advice.

Assumptions

What this calculator assumes

You sell the home at the end of your time frame and pay selling costs on the appreciated value.
Rent grows each year by the rent-increase assumption; ownership costs are based on the home’s changing value.
The comparison uses total cash cost, not the time value of money or tax deductions.
Mortgage and ownership are modeled only for the years you stay, capped at the loan term.
Money values are rounded to the nearest cent for display.

Common questions

Rent vs. buy FAQ

Why does how long I stay matter so much?

Buying carries large upfront and exit costs — the down payment, closing, and selling costs. The longer you stay, the more time there is to spread those costs out and to build equity through payments and appreciation. Over short horizons, renting often wins; over longer ones, buying tends to pull ahead.

Does this account for investing the difference?

No. This model compares total cash cost of renting against the net cost of buying and selling. It does not assume you invest the down payment or monthly savings elsewhere, so it is not a full opportunity-cost analysis.

Primary sources

Sources and review notes

Methodology last checked Jul 14, 2026. Formula implementation is covered by deterministic unit tests. No financial professional review is claimed yet.