Financial / Browser calculator

Rent vs Buy Calculator

Rent vs Buy Calculator works from the inputs you provide and returns rent net cost, buy net cost, ending home equity, buy minus rent cost. Use the calculation panel to explore a scenario, then check the formula and limitations before applying the result.

Your inputs

Minimum: 0
Minimum: 0
Minimum: 0
Minimum: 0 · Maximum: 100
Minimum: 0.08333333333333333 · Maximum: 100
Minimum: 1 · Maximum: 50 · Whole numbers
Minimum: 0
Minimum: -99 · Maximum: 100
Minimum: 0

Your results

Enter your values and calculate to see the result.

This estimate is for information and comparison, not financial, investment or tax advice.

Formula and calculation method

Buy net cost = down payment + mortgage payments + ownership and transaction costs − ending equity. Ending equity = future property value − remaining loan balance.

Simplified cash-flow comparison. Excludes opportunity cost, rent growth, tax relief, maintenance changes and investment return on the renter’s retained funds.

How to use rent vs buy calculator

  1. Set Monthly rent. The example below uses 1500.
  2. Set Purchase price. The example below uses 300000.
  3. Set Down payment. The example below uses 60000.
  4. Set Annual interest rate (%). The example below uses 6.
  5. Set Mortgage years. The example below uses 30.
  6. Set Comparison years. The example below uses 5.
  7. Set Annual ownership costs. The example below uses 6000.
  8. Set Annual property appreciation (%). The example below uses 2.
  9. Set Purchase and sale costs. The example below uses 15000.
  10. Select Calculate to update the result. Reset restores the illustrated inputs. Copy, print or download your own result if you need a record.

Worked example

Example inputs
Monthly rent
1500
Purchase price
300000
Down payment
60000
Annual interest rate (%)
6
Mortgage years
30
Comparison years
5
Annual ownership costs
6000
Annual property appreciation (%)
2
Purchase and sale costs
15000
Rent net cost
90000
Buy net cost
83,441.49103676
Ending home equity
107,893.78458523
Buy minus rent cost
-6,558.50896324

Factors affecting your result

Simplified cash-flow comparison. Excludes opportunity cost, rent growth, tax relief, maintenance changes and investment return on the renter’s retained funds.

Changing monthly rent changes the scenario being evaluated. Adjust one input at a time when comparing results, keep a copy of the assumptions, and compare values using the same unit and period. A precise arithmetic result does not make an uncertain assumption precise.

Frequently asked questions

How does the rent vs buy calculator work?

Buy net cost = down payment + mortgage payments + ownership and transaction costs − ending equity. Ending equity = future property value − remaining loan balance.

What inputs does Rent vs Buy Calculator need?

Enter monthly rent, purchase price, down payment, annual interest rate (%), mortgage years, comparison years, annual ownership costs, annual property appreciation (%), purchase and sale costs. Read the unit labels; percentages are entered as ordinary percentages, not decimal fractions.

How should I interpret the rent vs buy calculator result?

Simplified cash-flow comparison. Excludes opportunity cost, rent growth, tax relief, maintenance changes and investment return on the renter’s retained funds.

Are my rent vs buy calculator inputs uploaded?

No. The calculation runs in this browser. Favorites, recent tool names, theme and formatting preferences may be saved locally, but calculation inputs are not sent to a calculation server or stored by this website. Shared links do not include entered values.

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