Rent vs Buy Calculator
Most rent-vs-buy tools quietly flatter buying by ignoring one thing: what your down payment could earn if invested instead. This one prices that opportunity cost in, so the year buying actually pulls ahead of renting is an honest number.
Open the rent vs buy calculator →Free and instant. Slide the time horizon and watch the crossover move.
What the comparison includes
Buying and renting each have costs the other doesn't. A fair comparison tracks the full picture over your time horizon:
- Buying — down payment, closing costs, mortgage, property tax, insurance, maintenance; offset by equity and appreciation, minus selling costs when you leave.
- Renting — rent (which grows over time), offset by investing the money you didn't tie up in a down payment at your expected return.
The tool charts the cumulative net cost of each path and marks the crossover year — the point where buying becomes cheaper than renting.
| Home price / down payment | $400,000 / 20% |
| Rent (growing 3%/yr) | $2,200/mo |
| Appreciation / investment return | 3.5% / 6% |
| Buying — net cost after 10 yr | $195,000 |
| Renting — net cost after 10 yr | $234,000 |
| Crossover | year 6.6 |
Here buying pulls ahead around year 6.6 and is about $39,000 cheaper by year 10 — even after crediting the renter the 6% they'd earn investing the down payment. Change the horizon and the answer can flip entirely.
Common questions
Is it better to rent or buy?
Mostly a question of how long you stay. Renting usually wins the first few years; past the crossover (often 5–7 years) buying tends to pull ahead. Your rate, prices, and rent decide the exact point.
What is the opportunity cost of a down payment?
What that cash could earn if invested instead. An $80,000 down payment at 6% is a real cost of buying that most calculators skip — including it keeps the comparison honest.
What is the crossover year?
The year buying's cumulative net cost drops below renting's. Stay past it and buying pays off.