Rent vs Buy Calculator
Compare the total cost of renting vs buying over your chosen time horizon. See the break-even year and cumulative cost chart.
Renting
Buying
Buying is better over 10 years
Buying becomes cheaper after year 1
Total Rent (10 yrs)
$275,133
Net Buy Cost (10 yrs)
$127,858
Monthly Mortgage
$2,129
Home Value (yr 10)
$592,098
Net buying cost = cash paid out − home equity. Renting assumes no equity accumulation.
How to Use the Rent vs Buy Calculator
1. Enter Your Monthly Rent & Annual Rent Increase. Enter what you'd pay for a comparable home in the same area and your expected yearly rent climb (3-5% typical).
2. Enter Home Price & Down Payment. Enter the expected purchase price and upfront down payment percentage.
3. Enter Mortgage Rate & Loan Term. Enter quoted or current market mortgage interest rates and financing term (30 or 15 years).
4. Enter Appreciation, Tax & Maintenance Rates. Input expected home growth (3-4% average), local property tax rate, and annual maintenance budget.
5. Choose Comparison Horizon & Read Results. Set how long you expect to stay to see Total Rent paid, Net Buy Cost, Monthly Payment, and Break-Even Year.
Owen and Marisol were comparing a $350,000 townhouse against their current $1,650/month rental, and ran the numbers over a 7-year horizon they expected to stay. Using the calculator's default 1% annual maintenance assumption, buying looked clearly better — a Net Buy Cost well under their projected Total Rent, with a break-even year of 4. Then Marisol pointed out the townhouse was over 40 years old with an original roof and HVAC system, closer to the 3% maintenance range recommended for older homes than the 1% default for newer construction. Bumping the maintenance input from 1% to 3% added roughly $10,500 a year instead of $3,500 — a $49,000 difference in total cash spent over 7 years. What surprised them was that this single assumption, easy to skip past as a rounding detail, pushed the break-even year out by nearly two full years and meaningfully narrowed buying's advantage. They decided to get a home inspection focused specifically on roof and system age before finalizing an offer, rather than trusting the calculator's default.
Key Terms
Monthly Rent & Annual Increase
Your baseline rent and compounding yearly escalation percentage.
Home Price & Down Payment
Target purchase price and upfront equity percentage.
Mortgage Rate & Term
Interest rate and financing length (15 vs 30 years) driving monthly P&I.
Appreciation, Tax & Maintenance
Annual property value growth, municipal tax rate, and ongoing maintenance expense.
Net Buy Cost
Total cash spent (mortgage, tax, maintenance, closing) minus accumulated equity.
Break-Even Year
The exact year Net Buy Cost drops below cumulative rent paid.
The Maintenance Number Everyone Skips Past — And Why It Shouldn't Be a Default
Every input in this calculator gets scrutiny except one: the Annual Maintenance field. Leaving it on default is a mistake because maintenance is one of the largest and most variable ownership costs.
The Range Is Wider Than People Expect
Maintenance ranges from 1% to 4% per year. On a $400,000 home, 1% is $4,000/yr while 4% is $16,000/yr — a $12,000 annual gap that compounds rapidly over time.
Why This Matters Specifically for Rent vs. Buy
Maintenance isn't a separate bill renters see, making it easy to underestimate. Test both 1% and 3% scenarios before deciding on an offer.