Resource Center

Rent vs. Buy Analyzer

Instructions

The purpose of this calculator is to allow you to see how the financial advantages of buying a home depend on the relationship of rents to prices and the outlook for home price appreciation in your area.

Follow directions carefully, and type in reasonable values for all data elements. The numbers in the boxes now are default values. If you are not sure what value to type in to a particular box, you may leave the default value in place. We can take no responsibility for any financial or programming errors in this code.

Assumptions

** Click on the underlined terms below for an explanation.

Mortgage Rate	Tax Bracket	Property Tax	Expected Appreciation

Rent	Home Price	Condo Fee	Years

Results

On an annual basis, buying will cost $ than renting. This is based on financial analysis, which differs from actual cash outlays. Overall, the conclusion is:

Note: This evaluation of the financial advantage or disadvantage of buying a home is based on the assumptions typed in above. Try typing in a different value for "expected appreciation," and then click the Compute button. See how it affects the results. Other assumptions also affect the results. Since nobody knows for certain how much houses will appreciate in your area in the future, it is impossible to be absolutely certain whether renting or buying will be advantageous for you.