Housing

Rent vs Buy Calculator

Buying a home is often described as "building equity" while renting is "throwing money away." The math is more complicated than that. See it properly.

Net cost difference over your time horizon
$0
cheaper to rent
Total rent cost: $0 vs net buy cost: $0

🏠 Buying

20% = $80,000 on a $400k home
US average ≈ 1.1%. Check your county.
Industry rule of thumb: 1-2% per year

🏢 Renting

Shared assumptions

This matters enormously — buying rarely wins short-term
US historical average ≈ 3-4%
What you'd earn investing the down payment instead
Key caveat: this doesn't model tax deductions (mortgage interest, property tax), PMI (if down payment <20%), or closing costs (~3-5% of home price). Add those for a more complete picture. Appreciation and investment returns are assumptions — they're the biggest unknowns in this calculation.