Should you keep renting or take the plunge and buy? Enter your numbers and this calculator compares the true total cost of each over your chosen horizon — including mortgage, taxes, maintenance, appreciation and equity — then finds your break-even year. Everything runs entirely in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
Your Numbers
Renting
Buying
Adjust any value — results update live.
Result
Verdict
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Total cost of renting
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Net cost of buying
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Break-even year
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Home value at horizon
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Equity + gain at horizon
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Assumptions & Notes
This is a simplified model to help you compare scenarios — not financial advice. Key assumptions:
Renting cost = sum of monthly rent over the horizon, with rent rising by the annual increase each year.
Buying cost = down payment + mortgage payments made + property tax + maintenance, minus the equity and appreciation you recover if you sell at the horizon (net of selling costs).
Mortgage uses a standard fixed-rate amortization. If the horizon exceeds the term, only payments actually made are counted.
Property tax and maintenance are charged on the home's value that year (which grows with appreciation).
Break-even year is the first year where cumulative buying cost drops below cumulative renting cost.
Ignored for simplicity: closing costs on purchase, mortgage insurance, tax deductions, HOA fees, insurance, rent deposit, and the investment return you might earn on money not tied up in a down payment. Inflation is not separately modelled.