Rent vs. Buy Calculator
Enter your rent, the home you'd buy, and how long you plan to stay. We compare true total cost — including maintenance, taxes, appreciation, and the opportunity cost of your down payment.
Buy
wins over 7 years
Breakeven: year 2
Over 7 years
Total rent
$202,289
Net buy cost
$176,565
Home value at sale
$534,357
Equity at sale
$159,119
Monthly P&I
$2,452
Monthly total
$3,303
Freedom Coach™
Buying wins by $25,724 over 7 years.
Buying pays off starting year 2.
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Save rent-vs-buy scenarios for different cities and hold periods to make relocation decisions with confidence.
Unlock PremiumNo. Renting buys flexibility, predictable housing costs, and freedom from maintenance. Whether it's smart depends on your hold period, local price-to-rent ratio, and what you'd do with the down payment.
Under 15 favors buying, 15–20 is a toss-up, over 21 favors renting. Divide the home price by 12× monthly rent for the ratio.
Buying has big upfront costs (down payment, closing, agent fees at sale — usually 8–10% combined). It takes years of appreciation and principal paydown to offset them.
6–7% is a reasonable long-term real return for a diversified stock portfolio. Lower it if you'd hold cash or bonds instead.
This tool uses conservative pre-tax cash flows. Post-2018 tax reform, only about 10% of homeowners itemize — for most households, the mortgage interest deduction moves the needle less than people think.
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