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Rent vs Buy Calculator

Calculate whether it's better to rent or buy a home based on your financial situation

Try the Rent vs Buy Calculator

Experience this interactive tool with a clean, distraction-free interface.

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About This Tool

The Rent vs Buy Calculator helps you make one of life’s biggest financial decisions: whether to rent or buy a home. This tool considers all the hidden costs and benefits of both options.

How It Works

  1. Enter Property Details: Input the home price, your down payment, and mortgage terms
  2. Add Rental Information: Provide current rent and expected annual increases
  3. Include Additional Costs: Property taxes, HOA fees, maintenance, and insurance
  4. Review Results: See a detailed breakdown and visual chart showing when buying becomes advantageous

Key Features

  • Comprehensive Analysis: Factors in opportunity cost, tax benefits, and inflation
  • Visual Breakeven Point: Interactive chart shows exactly when buying beats renting
  • Sensitivity Analysis: Adjust assumptions to see how changes affect the outcome
  • Save & Share: Generate a unique URL to save or share your calculation

Assumptions

This calculator makes several assumptions that you can adjust:

  • Investment returns on money not used for down payment
  • Home price appreciation rate
  • Inflation rate
  • Length of time you plan to stay

Similar To

This calculator is similar to other rent vs buy calculators like the one from the New York Times, but implemented with modern web technologies and tailored for today’s market conditions.