Enter your numbers for both scenarios to see the true cost over your timeframe — accounting for equity, appreciation, selling costs, and what you'd earn investing the down payment instead.
Total cash paid — down payment, closing costs, and monthly mortgage principal & interest, property tax, insurance, and maintenance over your chosen years — minus the equity you'd recover by selling at the end of that period (home value at that point, minus your remaining loan balance, minus selling costs).
Total rent paid over the same period (growing each year at your assumed rent increase), minus the investment gain you'd get from investing the down payment and closing costs instead of spending them on a home purchase — money a renter keeps that a buyer ties up in the house.
The first year at which buying's net cost drops to or below renting's net cost. If you plan to stay longer than this, buying tends to win financially; shorter than this, renting tends to win — mainly because closing and selling costs are large fixed costs that only get "worth it" the longer you stay.
No — this covers the major, quantifiable costs on both sides, but skips harder-to-model factors like renovation costs, moving costs, or the value of stability vs. flexibility, which are real but not purely financial. Treat the break-even year as a strong directional signal, not a precise line.
Already have a mortgage and considering a new rate instead? Use the Refinance Calculator.