Flagship tool
Rent vs. Buy Calculator
Buying wins on a spreadsheet most years — the real question is when. This calculator models cumulative costs year by year, nets out your equity, and shows the crossover point where owning pulls ahead of renting.
The default rate (7.03%) is the Freddie Mac PMMS 30-yr average for the week of September 24, 2026; the appreciation default (~3.8%/yr) reflects the FHFA House Price Index's long-run average. Both are defaults, not forecasts — change them freely.
Rent vs. buy calculator
Every input below is yours to change. Defaults carry source notes — the rate is the current Freddie Mac PMMS weekly average, not a guess.
The verdict at your stay length
Over 7 years, buying comes out ahead
Owning costs about $177,525 net (after closing costs and net sale proceeds), versus $202,289 in rent. That's roughly $2,113/mo equivalent for owning against $2,627/mo rent in the final year.
Break-even year
Year 6
Year-1 monthly cost of owning
$3,415
Year-1 monthly rent
$2,200
Cumulative cost crossover
Net cost of owning (down payment + costs, minus equity) vs. total rent paid. When the owning line drops below the renting line, buying has broken even.
Assumptions currently in the model
- 30-year fixed mortgage at 7.03% — Freddie Mac PMMS default, September 24, 2026
- Down payment 20% · loan $360,000 · P&I $2,402.35/mo
- Appreciation 3.8%/yr — FHFA HPI 30-yr average as default
- Rent starts $2,200/mo, growing 3%/yr
- Tax 1.1% · insurance 0.6% · maintenance 1% of home value
- PMI (0.6% of loan/yr) included while balance > 78% of original value
- Interest deduction credited only above the $32,200 standard deduction (married filing jointly; SALT cap $40,400)
- Closing costs: 2.5% at purchase, 6% at sale (commission + fees) — both adjustable above
- Also excluded: moving costs, and the return a down payment could earn invested elsewhere
Sources: Freddie Mac PMMS (www.freddiemac.com/pmms); FHFA House Price Index (fhfa.gov/data/hpi). This is an estimate, not tax or investment advice.
Every figure here is formula output from cited defaults (rate, deductions, taxes shown in the assumptions). Planning estimate — not tax or financial advice.
Next step: sanity-check the payment side in the mortgage payment calculator, or see how much house you can afford.
Run your numbers, then read the shape behind them: When does buying actually beat renting? walks the same defaults year by year, from the interest-heavy first years to the year-6 crossover.
How to read the result
The break-even year is the first year the net cost of owning (your down payment, closing costs, and all carrying costs, minus what you'd walk away with after selling) drops below the total rent you would have paid. Before that year, renting has been cheaper even though a mortgage payment might look comparable to rent.
The gap exists because of what ownership costs upfront-heavy: a mortgage's early payments are mostly interest, and taxes, insurance, and maintenance never stop. Equity builds slowly at first, then accelerates — which is why the stay-duration slider is the single most honest lever in this tool.
FAQ
Should I rent or buy?
The honest answer is computational, not universal: it depends almost entirely on how long you stay. Run the calculator with your own numbers — at the site's cited defaults the crossover lands in year 6 of a 7-year stay, and every input moves it. If your stay is short, renting usually wins; if it is long, owning usually does. The break-even guide walks the shape year by year.
When does buying beat renting?
When the cumulative net cost of owning drops below the cumulative rent you would have paid — the crossover the chart draws. At the cited defaults that is year 6; a lower rate, faster appreciation, or a longer stay each pull it earlier. The when-does-buying-beat-renting guide explains what moves it.
What costs do first-time buyers forget?
The upfront stack: closing costs (2–3% of the price, charged in year 1) and the interest-heavy first years of the mortgage — plus the sale side later (agent commission + fees, ~5–6%). The closing cost calculator itemizes both sides line by line, and the calculator charges all of them in the comparison rather than skipping them.
Where to go next
If buying wins at your stay length, check the payment in the mortgage calculator and the budget in the affordability calculator. If renting wins, drag the stay-duration slider above to see how many more years the crossover would take — the answer flips at a specific year, not gradually. Either way, the upfront stack matters: the closing cost calculator itemizes the buyer and seller lines the crossover charges.