To compare your long-term wealth, we simply subtracted your monthly rent payments from your monthly mortgage payments. The difference represents the money you could be saving monthly if you decided to :
Here's what you have saved for the house so far:
Here's the difference in your monthly costs:
Hmm, seems like one of your wealth estimates is very low.
That could be the case if the selected value for one of these inputs is low or even negative - investment return, mortgage interest rate, home appreciation or length of stay. Adjust your numbers to try different scenarios.
This calculator provides a rough comparison between buying and renting, from a financial perspective. Your personal experience may differ from the calculator results due to difference in investment return, home appreciation, interest rates, your credit score, PMI rates and the specific income requirements by the lender, among other inputs and assumptions built into this calculator. Results may vary with each use and over time.
No record of this interaction or its results will be maintained.
The tool estimates, compares and outputs your wealth under two options:
Current savings are used to cover down payment and buying costs. The home assumed to be purchased via a down payment and a mortgage (home value minus down payment). The home value grows at the specified constant rate per year and is assumed to be sold at the end of the specified period of stay in the home. When the home is sold, the outstanding loan on the home, all closing costs and taxes are taken out of the selling price and the net home value is calculated.
Housing costs for that scenario include: mortgage payments, property taxes, property insurance, maintenance, PMI payments, minus any tax savings. If housing costs under the "buying" scenario are lower than the monthly costs in the "rent" scenario, each year the difference is assumed to be deposited into a taxable account. The account balance grows with the chosen constant investment return and is taxed correspondingly (see Taxes). At the end of the stay in the home, the account is assumed to be liquidated, all corresponding taxes are paid and the net value is recorded. The reported wealth equals the sum of the net house value and net account value.
Current house savings are instead invested in a taxable account. The account balance grows with the chosen constant investment return and is taxed correspondingly. Housing costs for that scenario include: rent payments. The rent grows at the constant rate of inflation of 2.50%. If housing costs under the "rent" scenario are lower than the monthly costs in the "buy" scenario, each year the difference is assumed to be deposited into the same taxable account and taxed accordingly (see Taxes). At the end of the stay in the home, the account is assumed to be liquidated, all corresponding taxes are paid and the net value is recorded. The reported net wealth equals the net account value.
The tool compares the wealth (value of your house or portfolio after selling and paying taxes) under the two scenarios and determines a numerical winner based on the estimated results. If the difference between the two results is less than 10.00%, the two options are considered equivalent.
This tool uses a set of assumptions for the estimations. All calculations are on an annual basis and all output is rounded.
Income in the current year is taxed at the marginal federal rate based on 2022 IRS tax brackets assuming "married filing jointly" filing status. All income in subsequent years is taxed at the estimated federal marginal tax rate based on the annual household income entered.
All investment income (dividends and interest) is taxed at estimated based on the annual household income entered.
Realized capital gains from investments and from the sale of the property are taxed at a constant 20.00% rate.
Property taxes each year are assumed to be 1.15% of the home's market value.
For 2022 joint filers can claim a standard deduction of $25,900 and a home-sale exemption of $500,000. These amounts are indexed for inflation and may change annually.
The standard deduction of $25,900 and the home-sale exemption of $500,000 are assumed to increase with inflation
The chosen constant interest rate and loan duration of 30 years are used to calculate the annual mortgage payment using an ordinary annuity formula. The default of 7.03% is based on the U.S. weekly average as of 12/3/2023 from the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
For both renting and buying scenarios, the difference in initial and monthly cash flows is assumed to be invested in a taxable account and a constant rate of return is applied. 1/6 of the return is assumed to be interest income and 1/3 is assumed to be dividend income. Additional 1/6 of the return is assumed to be in the form of realized capital gains.
The 6% rate of return is a hypothetical rate used for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to predict or project investment results. An investor's rate of return may be higher or lower than that shown in these hypothetical projections.
The market value of the home is assumed to grow at a constant rate annually. The default of 4.00% is based on the 30-year average return of S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index from January 1985 to January 2021. Appreciation of an individual house may differ widely from an index price. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Rent payments are assumed to grow at a constant rate of 2.50% annually.
Inflation is assumed to be constant at 2.50% per year.
Income is assumed to grow at a constant 4.00% per year.
Lenders often resell the mortgage to government-sponsored agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These loans need to conform to the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines. One important requirement is the need to pay for mortgage insurance if the down payment is less than 20.00% of the home value. While there are different kinds of non-conforming loans like FHA, VA or jumbo loans, we are treating all the loans as conforming loans with only private option (PMI) for mortgage insurance. The maximum loan value constraint is also ignored for simplicity.
The annual amount of Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is assumed to be 0.50% of the home value. The PMI amount is considered if the down payment is less than 20.00%. The tool assumes that PMI is automatically stopped once the home equity reaches 22%. You may want to contact your mortgage lender if your payments are not automatically canceled.
Buying costs are assumed to be 2.00% of the home value. Selling costs are assumed to be 7.00% of the home value. The chosen current savings amount is assumed to cover both down payment and buying costs.
Home insurance is assumed to be 0.35% of the home value per year.
Maintenance and improvement costs are assumed to amount to 0.50% of the home value per year.
Monthly costs for the buying scenario include the monthly mortgage payment, property taxes, home insurance costs and PMI (if applicable). All monthly costs are estimated by dividing the annual costs by twelve. Monthly costs for the renting scenario include rental payment.
First year tax savings are estimated as the federal tax payment difference between: deducting the sum of state taxes, property taxes and interest expense versus using the standard deduction (currently at $25,900 for 2022, adjusted for inflation in the future).
This ratio is estimated as: purchase price of the house divided by the annual rent payment. The annual rent payment is equal to twelve times the monthly rents. This ratio is directional in nature and is not the basis for our recommendation. It is provided as supplemental information to the user.
OUR METHODOLOGYUse this simple calculator to estimate how much house you can afford.
Use this simple calculator to estimate how much house you can afford.
