How it works
How this tool works.
Rent versus buy is usually argued with slogans — “rent is throwing money away,” “a house is a money pit.” The more useful starting point is plain cash: what leaves your account each month in each scenario, and how those totals diverge over a few years as rent rises and a fixed mortgage payment does not. That does not settle the question by itself, but it puts a real number under the debate.
This calculator builds the owning side from a mortgage payment computed from your price, down payment, rate, and term, plus the monthly property tax, insurance, and maintenance allowance you enter. It compares that against your current rent, then projects a cumulative side-by-side over the years you choose, growing rent at your own assumption while holding owning costs flat. Be clear about what it is: a simplified cash comparison, not financial advice. It excludes appreciation, the equity your payments build, tax effects, closing costs, and what the down payment could earn elsewhere — factors that can swing the real answer in either direction.
Enter your current monthly rent and the annual rent growth you want to assume.
Enter the home price, down payment, rate, and term — the tool computes the monthly principal & interest payment.
Add your own monthly figures for property tax, homeowners insurance, and a maintenance allowance to complete the owning side.
Read the monthly difference, then use the year slider to see the cumulative cash totals diverge as rent grows and the fixed payment does not.