Keep principal-built equity separate from costs consumed during the same years.
Calculations stay in this browser. No entries are saved.
Rent is consumed. Ownership combines consumed costs with equity. Transaction costs and holding period can reverse the winner.
Use a specific property and rent alternative with conservative maintenance, appreciation and sale-cost ranges.
Ownership consumed cost includes mortgage interest, carrying costs and transaction costs, less modeled appreciation. Principal repayment is retained as equity rather than counted as consumption. Rent compounds annually.
Opportunity cost, tax effects, HOA fees and moving costs are excluded. Run appreciation, maintenance and rent-growth ranges.
This calculator supports The Real Cost of Homeownership. Rent vs. Buy: The Time Horizon Behind the Break-Even explains which details can change the inputs. The calculation methodology shows how we handle timing, rounding and exclusions.
Use a specific property and rent alternative with conservative maintenance, appreciation and sale-cost ranges. Inputs remain in the browser and outputs are rounded for display.
Read the complete methodology →The comparison aligns rent with mortgage interest, carrying costs and transactions over one horizon instead of comparing rent with a mortgage payment.
Modeled equity is future home value minus sale costs and mortgage payoff; the estimate depends heavily on appreciation and exit assumptions.
Put the mortgage beside the carrying costs a listing price cannot show.