Rent vs Buy Calculator
Compare the total cash cost of renting versus buying over the years you plan to stay — and see the year buying breaks even.
🇺🇸 United StatesHow this rent vs buy calculator works
This tool compares the total cash you'll spend renting versus buying over the number of years you plan to stay. For renting, we multiply your monthly rent by the months in your horizon. We keep rent flat to stay transparent — in reality it usually climbs, which would tip the math toward buying sooner.
For buying, we start with your down payment, then add your monthly principal & interest across the horizon, plus your annual property tax and insurance. The monthly P&I comes from the standard amortization formula: M = P · r / (1 − (1 + r)⁻ⁿ), where P is the loan amount (home price minus down payment), r is the monthly rate, and n is the number of payments.
Importantly, this is a simplified cost view: we do not subtract the equity you build as you pay down the loan, and we do not add any home-price appreciation. That makes the comparison conservative toward renting — once equity and appreciation are counted, buying typically looks better and breaks even earlier than shown here.
The breakeven year is the first whole year where the running cost of buying falls to or below the running cost of renting. Use this as a planning tool, not a recommendation — your real numbers depend on your rate, taxes, maintenance, and how long you actually stay. When you're ready, talk to a licensed loan officer.
Rent vs buy questions
It adds up the total cash you would spend over your time horizon for each path. Renting is monthly rent times the months you stay. Buying is your down payment plus monthly principal & interest plus annual property tax and insurance, summed over the same period. Whichever total is lower is shown as the cheaper option.
No — and that is deliberate. This is a simplified cash-cost view that does not subtract the equity you build or any rise in home value. In reality, buying often looks better once equity and appreciation are included, so treat the breakeven year here as conservative. For a full picture, talk to a licensed loan officer or financial advisor.
It is the first whole year where your cumulative cost of buying drops to or below your cumulative cost of renting. Before that year renting has cost you less; after it, buying pulls ahead. If buying never catches up within 40 years at your inputs, the tool tells you renting stays cheaper.
To keep the comparison simple and transparent, rent is held flat across your horizon. In real life rent usually rises over time, which would make buying break even sooner. Think of the breakeven shown here as the later, more cautious estimate.
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