Rent or buy? See what happens over time.

How this works

A renter looks at a home and thinks: “Buying costs more per month. Why would I do that?” Most rent-vs-buy conversations stop right there. This tool exists because your payment today isn’t the whole story.

Rent tends to rise year after year. A fixed-rate mortgage’s principal & interest payment doesn’t move — though property taxes, insurance and upkeep do. Meanwhile the loan balance falls with every payment, the home’s value may grow, and one day the mortgage hits zero while a renter still needs a place to live. On the other side of the ledger: the renter still holds the down payment and closing costs they never spent, and the optional “What if you invested the savings instead?” toggle tests the classic counter-argument — take today’s monthly savings from renting and invest that same amount every month, consistently, for 30 years. This calculator models both paths and tells you which comes out ahead under your assumptions. Sometimes that’s renting. It says so.

What the math includes

True month-by-month mortgage amortization (not an approximation); conventional PMI removed when the balance reaches 80% of the original purchase price (the calculator assumes you request cancellation there, which federal rules allow for borrowers in good standing — automatic termination is otherwise required at 78%); FHA mortgage insurance and VA funding fees where they apply (including fee-exempt buyers); property taxes with California’s Prop 13 assessment cap (the assessed value’s inflation adjustment is limited to at most 2% a year absent reassessment — actual bills vary by property and can include voter-approved bonds, special assessments and Mello-Roos charges), a year-one homeowners-insurance estimate growing at its own editable rate (not at the appreciation assumption), the maintenance reserve, HOA dues, buyer closing costs, selling costs when we compute what the home would net, compounding rent growth, compounding home appreciation, and monthly-compounded returns on the optional invested-savings strategy. The calculator does not model income-tax effects — mortgage-interest or SALT deductions, taxes on investment gains, or home-sale capital-gains treatment — because they depend heavily on individual circumstances. Insurance, maintenance and selling costs are editable planning assumptions — real premiums, upkeep and commissions are set by insurers, contractors and negotiation, not formulas. And the growth rates — rent, appreciation, investment returns — are clearly labeled assumptions about an unknowable future. Every one of them is editable.

These results are estimates for education, not financial, tax, lending or investment advice. Future rent growth, home appreciation and investment returns are assumptions — actual results will differ. Financing terms, insurance, taxes and ownership costs vary by property, lender and borrower. Talk to a lender for real quotes, and to a tax professional about your situation.