Your numbers
Buying
$
What the home costs to buy.
$
Fees and taxes paid on top of the price when you buy; the renter invests this instead.
%
The part of the price paid from your own money.
%
The mortgage’s yearly interest rate.
How long the mortgage runs; once it’s paid off the buyer only has ownership costs.
Ownership costs
$
A monthly fee to the building or association for shared upkeep.
%
$
A yearly tax as a % of the home’s value.
A fixed yearly tax on owning the home.
$
Home insurance the owner pays each year.
%
Repairs and upkeep inside the home, as a % of its value each year.
Renting
$
Rent for the same home today.
%
How much rent rises each year; fixed ownership costs rise at the same rate.
Markets & period
%
How much the home’s value rises each year.
%
The yearly return on money either person invests.
%
Agent fees and costs to sell, as a % of the value; taken off the buyer’s net worth.
yr
How long you’d stay; 1 to 30 years.
After 10 years
Buyer’s net worth
–
The home’s value minus the loan left and selling costs, plus anything the buyer invested.
Renter’s net worth
–
Everything the renter invested — the down payment and buying costs plus monthly savings — with its returns.
Buyer minus renter
–
Positive means buying leaves you better off; negative means renting does.
Break-even year
–
The year from which the buyer is ahead and stays ahead to the end of the period.
What if prices grow differently?
The buyer-minus-renter difference at four price growth rates, with everything else as you entered it.
| Price growth | Buyer’s net worth | Renter’s net worth | Buyer minus renter |
|---|
The row closest to your price growth is in bold.
Net worth year by year
Each person’s net worth at the end of every year; where the lines cross, the other person takes the lead.
Buyer
Renter
Buying ahead from here
Yearly table
The numbers behind the chart, at the end of each year (year 0 is the day you buy).
| Year | Buyer pays / mo | Rent / mo | Home equity | Buyer invested | Buyer net worth | Renter net worth | Buyer minus renter |
|---|
- Buyer pays / mo: the mortgage payment plus ownership costs that year.
- Rent / mo: the renter’s rent that year.
- Home equity: the home’s value minus the loan left and minus selling costs — what selling would leave you.
- Buyer invested: the buyer’s savings, built up in months when renting would have cost more.
- Buyer net worth: home equity plus the buyer’s investments.
- Renter net worth: the renter’s investments, started with the down payment and buying costs.
- Buyer minus renter: how far the buyer is ahead (positive) or behind (negative).
Each month, whoever pays less invests the difference. All figures are before tax: taxes on investment gains and on selling a home depend on your country (in Czechia, both can become tax-free after certain holding periods).