The real math: hidden costs, equity, and what your down payment could have earned. Free, no signup.
Estimates only, not financial advice. This compares your total out-of-pocket cost of owning (down payment, closing, mortgage, taxes, insurance, HOA, maintenance, minus equity and appreciation, minus selling costs) against renting while investing the cash you would have put into the house. It does not account for PMI, tax deductions, renters insurance, moving costs, or market crashes. Run it with pessimistic appreciation (0-2%) before you trust the answer.
This is not a mortgage payment calculator. It compares the full cost of owning against renting and investing the difference. Enter the home price, down payment percent, mortgage rate, and loan term, plus yearly ownership costs: property tax, home insurance, HOA, maintenance (1% is the default starting point), and closing costs. Enter what a comparable place rents for and how fast rents grow. Then your plan: how long you will stay, home appreciation, and what the renter's cash earns if invested instead. The tool shows the true monthly cost of owning: mortgage payment, tax, insurance, HOA, and maintenance, minus the principal portion that becomes equity you keep. It runs the 5% rule, which says owning costs roughly 5% of the price per year in unrecoverable costs, and delivers a verdict: net cost of owning versus net cost of renting over your horizon, the upfront cash needed to buy, and the break-even year when buying pulls ahead. It excludes PMI, tax deductions, renters insurance, moving costs, and market crashes, so run it with pessimistic appreciation of 0 to 2% before you trust the answer. Estimates only, not financial advice.
Example only, not typical prices. A $400,000 home, 20% down, 6.95% rate, 30-year loan. Monthly: mortgage $2,118, property tax $367, insurance $150, maintenance $333, for $2,968 cash out the door, minus $265 of principal that becomes equity, for a true monthly cost of about $2,703. The 5% rule says owning costs about $1,667 per month versus $1,948 comparable rent, so buying looks cheaper on that rule of thumb. But the full 7-year math says net owning cost of about $177,100 versus about $123,386 for renting while the $92,000 down payment grows at 7% invested, so RENTING WINS by about $53,715 here, with break-even at year 22. The full math beats the rule of thumb, which is why the calculator exists.
The payment is mostly interest early on, and it leaves out taxes, insurance, maintenance, selling costs, and the opportunity cost of the down payment. The full comparison can flip the answer, as the worked example shows.
A rule of thumb that owning costs about 5% of the home price per year in unrecoverable costs: property taxes, maintenance, and the cost of capital. Compare that to annual rent for a quick gut check.
The year when the net cost of owning drops below the net cost of renting. If you plan to move before then, renting usually wins; stay longer and buying usually wins.
That cash could have been earning returns instead of sitting in the house. Ignoring that opportunity cost makes buying look cheaper than it is.
No. It excludes PMI, tax deductions, and market crashes, and uses your assumptions, not predictions. Treat it as a planning estimate and run pessimistic scenarios.
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