Calculators
Rent vs Buy Calculator
Compare the net worth from buying a home with renting and investing the difference over the years you plan to stay.
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- Nothing uploaded
The tool
Enter your numbers below. Results update as you type, and nothing leaves your browser.
Everything you enter stays on your own machine. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else, which you can confirm in your browser network tab.
What people use it for
- Deciding whether to buy or keep renting
- Testing how long you need to stay for buying to pay off
- Comparing cities
- Financial planning conversations
About this tool
What the Rent vs Buy Calculator does
Buying builds equity but carries interest, taxes, maintenance and transaction costs. Renting costs rent but frees the down payment to invest. This calculator follows both paths month by month and compares where you end up after the years you expect to stay.
Formula
- Owner cost each month = mortgage payment + property tax + insurance and maintenance
- Renter invests the down payment and closing costs, plus (owner cost − rent) each month
- Buyer wealth = home value × (1 − selling costs) − loan balance
Worked example
Using the starting values in the calculator above:
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Home price | $450,000 |
| Down payment | 20% |
| Mortgage rate | 6.5% |
| Loan term | 30 |
| Property tax per year | 1.1% |
| Insurance and maintenance per year | 1.5% |
| Home price growth | 3% |
| Buying closing costs | 3% |
| Selling costs | 6% |
| Monthly rent | $2,300 |
| Rent increase per year | 3% |
| Investment return | 6% |
| Years you plan to stay | 7 |
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Better choice over this period | Renting |
| Buying minus renting | -$48,766 |
| Buyer’s home equity after sale costs | $194,738 |
| Renter’s investment portfolio | $243,504 |
| Mortgage payment | $2,275 |
How to read the result
The longer you stay, the more buying tends to win, because the large one-off costs of buying and selling are spread over more years.
If the monthly difference turns negative (rent above owning costs), the renter withdraws from investments in this model, as a buyer would gain.
Limits to keep in mind
- Taxes on investment gains and mortgage interest deductions are not modelled.
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Questions
Questions about this tool
The things clients actually want to know — costs, timelines, ownership and what happens after launch.
It depends on prices, rents, rates, how long you stay and what you would do with the money. This calculator compares both paths with your numbers.
Often five years or more, because buying and selling costs are high. The calculator shows the break-even for your inputs.
A fair comparison assumes the renter invests the money the buyer puts into the home.
Free strategy session
Let’s build something worth finding.
Tell us where you want the business to be in twelve months. We will come back with a costed plan, a realistic timeline, and the numbers we expect to move — no obligation, no jargon.
- 30-minute call, no pitch deck
- Fixed-price proposal in 48 hours
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Not a sales team
- Response time
- Within 1 business hour
- Where we work
- UK, USA & the Gulf
- Contracts
- No lock-in, monthly rolling
- Working since
- 2023