Corie Adams
Lending Team
Get Pre-Approved (opens in a new tab)

Comparison

Rent vs Buy Calculator

Comparing rent to a mortgage payment is not a fair fight. Owning adds maintenance, taxes and transaction costs; renting has none of those but builds no equity and rises over time.

This model runs both forward over your time horizon and reports the net position, what you'd have either way when you walk out the door.

Your numbers

$1,750
$325,000

Your results

Buying comes out ahead by

$6,110

Over 7 years

Total rent paid
$163,368
Total cost of owning (net of equity)
$157,258
Home value after 7 years
$399,709
Equity at sale (after 7% selling costs)
$92,569
Owning payment today
$2,510
Rent in year 7
$2,226

What happens if you change this

Staying 7 years, buying comes out ahead by $6,110. Owning costs more month to month at the start, but rent grows 3.5% a year, by year 7 you'd be paying $2,226 while the mortgage principal and interest stays fixed at $1,952. Shorten your time horizon and buying loses, because the roughly $22,750 in selling costs hasn't been outrun by equity yet. Drag the years slider to find your crossover point.

Keep these numbers

Your results are yours already. If it helps, send them to yourself, or have Corie look at the same scenario and tell you what she would change.

Ready now? Get Pre-Approved (opens in a new tab)

Related calculators

Keep learning

Questions people ask

What time horizon makes buying worth it?
Commonly somewhere between three and six years, but it's entirely dependent on your rent, price, rate and appreciation. Slide the years input to find where the lines cross for your numbers.
Why include selling costs?
Because you'll pay them. Commissions, transfer tax and settlement fees typically run 6 to 8% of the sale price, and ignoring them makes buying look far better than it is on a short hold.

Estimates for education only, not a loan approval, rate quote, or commitment to lend. Actual figures depend on credit, property, program guidelines, and market conditions at the time of lock. Corie Adams · NMLS #1875205 · Network Funding, LP · NMLS ID #2297 · Equal Housing Opportunity.

In plain English

It compares the true cost of renting against owning over the years you actually plan to stay.

When to use it

  • Your lease is ending and you are weighing a renewal
  • You are unsure whether you will stay in the area long enough to buy
  • You want to see the break-even point rather than an opinion

Common mistakes

Comparing rent to a mortgage payment
Ownership adds taxes, insurance and maintenance, and builds equity in return. Compare the whole picture.
Ignoring how long you will stay
Buying rarely wins under three years and usually wins past seven.
Forgetting rent increases
A fixed mortgage payment holds while rent generally does not.

Recommended next steps

  1. 01Find your price range
  2. 02Talk With Corie

Turn the estimate into real numbers.

A pre-approval replaces the assumptions above with your actual income, credit, and the terms available to you today.

Get Pre-Approved (opens in a new tab)Talk With Corie

Related calculators

Other numbers worth running.

After the math

Where this number leads.