Rent vs. Buy Calculator
See the year buying beats renting in your market.
Rent-vs-buy is mostly about the break-even year. Buying has high upfront costs (down payment, closing) but low ongoing cost as you build equity; renting is the reverse. The crossover depends on local price growth, rent inflation, mortgage rate, and how long you stay. ValiFit uses local FHFA HPI data to project price growth and compares total wealth at year N for renting (down payment invested at 7%) vs buying (equity built + appreciation).
Run rent vs. buy for my cityInputs
- Monthly rent
- Annual rent inflation
- Home price
- Down payment
- Mortgage rate
- Property tax rate
- Local 5-yr appreciation
- Investment return alternative (default 7%)
Outputs
- Year buying cheaper than renting
- Total cost over 30 years (rent)
- Total cost over 30 years (buy)
- Wealth at year 5/10/20
Formula
Year-by-year compare: cumulative rent + invested down payment growth (7%) vs. cumulative PITI + maintenance − home appreciation × equity.
Federal Sources
ValiFit pulls these federal sources directly. We do not invent rates, fees, or limits — they come from the source agency.