Compare renting and buying with equal-funding investment portfolios, mortgage equity, selling costs and annual crossover scenarios.
01 / PURPOSE-SPECIFIC INPUTS
The cheaper monthly housing option invests the difference using equal external funding. Principal, equity and opportunity costs are reconciled once.
02 / RESULT & INTERACTIVE INSPECTION
Future returns, appreciation, rent changes and costs are assumptions. The comparison does not assess whether either option is affordable, nor the nonfinancial value of ownership or flexibility.
Observation 0: Buy: sale proceeds + invested savings: 56,000 $; Rent: invested upfront cash + savings: 92,000 $.
Observation 0: Home equity before selling costs: 80,000 $; Remaining mortgage: 320,000 $; Home value: 400,000 $.
| Year | Ownership cash outflow | Renting cash outflow | Mortgage balance | Equity before selling | Buy net | Rent net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | $92,000.00 | $0.00 | $320,000.00 | $80,000.00 | $56,000.00 | $92,000.00 |
| 1 | $34,822.74 | $26,640.00 | $316,070.36 | $95,929.64 | $71,209.64 | $104,968.61 |
| 2 | $35,146.74 | $27,439.20 | $311,898.35 | $112,461.65 | $87,000.05 | $118,099.66 |
| 3 | $35,479.86 | $28,262.38 | $307,469.02 | $129,621.78 | $103,396.33 | $131,386.07 |
| 4 | $35,822.36 | $29,110.25 | $302,766.50 | $147,437.02 | $120,424.81 | $144,819.95 |
| 5 | $36,174.51 | $29,983.55 | $297,773.94 | $165,935.69 | $138,113.11 | $158,392.53 |
| 6 | $36,536.59 | $30,883.06 | $292,473.45 | $185,147.47 | $156,490.21 | $172,094.11 |
| 7 | $36,908.89 | $31,809.55 | $286,846.03 | $205,103.51 | $175,586.54 | $185,913.98 |
| 8 | $37,291.69 | $32,763.84 | $280,871.53 | $225,836.50 | $195,434.02 | $199,840.38 |
| 9 | $37,685.30 | $33,746.75 | $274,528.54 | $247,380.74 | $216,066.18 | $213,860.40 |
| 10 | $38,090.02 | $34,759.16 | $267,794.32 | $269,772.23 | $237,518.24 | $227,959.94 |
| 11 | $38,506.19 | $35,801.93 | $260,644.75 | $293,048.80 | $259,827.19 | $242,123.62 |
| 12 | $38,934.12 | $36,875.99 | $253,054.21 | $317,250.14 | $283,031.88 | $256,334.68 |
| 13 | $39,374.16 | $37,982.27 | $244,995.50 | $342,417.98 | $307,173.17 | $270,574.92 |
| 14 | $39,826.66 | $39,121.74 | $236,439.75 | $368,596.14 | $332,293.98 | $284,824.60 |
| 15 | $40,291.97 | $40,295.39 | $227,356.30 | $395,830.66 | $358,442.95 | $299,065.83 |
| Scenario | Buy-minus-rent net position |
|---|---|
| Entered assumptions | $59,377.12 |
| Appreciation −1 percentage point | $-5,857.92 |
| Appreciation +1 percentage point | $134,982.46 |
| Investment return +1 percentage point | $18,803.39 |
Enter your values locally; no inputs are uploaded.
Check validation feedback before reviewing the browser-generated result.
Review the explanation, copy supported outputs or reset the workspace.
Both options begin with equal wealth equal to down payment plus buying closing costs. Each month they have the same external funding budget, and only the cheaper option invests the housing cash-cost difference.
Compare renting and buying with equal-funding investment portfolios, mortgage equity, selling costs and annual crossover scenarios. Inspect the calculated data through labeled controls and review worked assumptions before using a result.
Rent vs. Buy Calculator calculations run locally in browser memory. Entered financial values, wages, measurements and other inputs are not sent to a third-party processing service or saved as a personal profile. Ordinary website page requests may still be logged. Clipboard access happens only when you choose Copy Result.
Both options begin with equal wealth equal to down payment plus buying closing costs. Each month they have the same external funding budget, and only the cheaper option invests the housing cash-cost difference.
Home equity is home value minus remaining mortgage. Buyer net position is sale proceeds after selling costs and mortgage payoff plus invested buyer savings; principal and equity are not added or charged again.
No. The annual cost table reports cash outflows, including principal payments. The net-position comparison separately recognizes the remaining mortgage and sale proceeds, which avoids treating all principal as lost money.
It is an annual observation at which modeled buyer net position reaches or exceeds renter net position. A separate sustained crossover requires buying to stay ahead through the entered horizon; no precise crossover month is inferred from annual samples.
Property tax and maintenance are percentages of each year-start home value. Home appreciation uses an effective annual assumption, insurance and HOA follow their cost-growth rate, and rent plus renter insurance follow the rent-growth rate.
The model omits jurisdiction-specific tax deductions, PMI, refundable deposits, moving costs, variable mortgage rates and unentered transaction costs. Return and appreciation sensitivities are assumptions, not forecasts or a recommendation to buy.