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
- Set Monthly rent. The example below uses 1500.
- Set Purchase price. The example below uses 300000.
- Set Down payment. The example below uses 60000.
- Set Annual interest rate (%). The example below uses 6.
- Set Mortgage years. The example below uses 30.
- Set Comparison years. The example below uses 5.
- Set Annual ownership costs. The example below uses 6000.
- Set Annual property appreciation (%). The example below uses 2.
- Set Purchase and sale costs. The example below uses 15000.
- 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
Inputs and results explained
Rent vs Buy Calculator takes 9 inputs. Fill each one using the same units and conventions, then select Calculate.
- Monthly rent: a number of 0 or more. The worked example uses 1500.
- Purchase price: a number of 0 or more. The worked example uses 300000.
- Down payment: a number of 0 or more. The worked example uses 60000.
- Annual interest rate (%): a number from 0 to 100. The worked example uses 6.
- Mortgage years: a number from 0.08333333333333333 to 100. The worked example uses 30.
- Comparison years: a number from 1 to 50. Whole numbers only. The worked example uses 5.
- Annual ownership costs: a number of 0 or more. The worked example uses 6000.
- Annual property appreciation (%): a number from -99 to 100. The worked example uses 2.
- Purchase and sale costs: a number of 0 or more. The worked example uses 15000.
The result panel reports Rent net cost, Buy net cost, Ending home equity and Buy minus rent cost, so you can see the whole outcome rather than a single figure.
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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