Calculators
Rent vs. Buy Calculator
Add up what renting and owning would cost you, month by month, and see when owning starts to cost less under your own numbers. No verdict, and no rate from us.
- Every number is yours
- Nothing you enter is sent anywhere
Rent or buy: when does owning start to cost less?
Every number here is yours. The calculator adds up what renting and owning would cost you month by month and shows when owning has cost less, under your numbers. It does not tell you what to do. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Add more detail (optional)
Enter your rent, your monthly cost to own and the one-time cost to buy.
Under your numbers
| After | Renting | Owning |
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“Don’t deny yourself before anybody even understands the situation. Maybe you’re ready. Maybe you’re not. Maybe we need time. All of those answers are okay.”Samantha Shelton
Talk it through with SamanthaArithmetic on the numbers you entered, not a prediction, a quote, or advice to rent or buy. Owning's net cost is the one-time costs plus the monthly cost to own, less principal paid off and any value change you entered, plus selling costs if you entered them. Align Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154. Equal Housing Opportunity.
How to read the answer
One month, and what moves it
The month is the point
It is when your running total for owning drops below your running total for renting. Move before it and renting would have cost less under your numbers; stay longer and owning would have.
The down payment is not a cost
It stays yours as equity, so the calculator leaves it out of the cost of owning. What that money could earn somewhere else is not counted either.
Your numbers move it
A bigger rent increase, a lower monthly cost to own and lower one-time costs bring the month closer. So does the equity detail under Add more detail.
Before you decide
In Samantha's words
Talk before you are ready
“The biggest thing I want you to know is you do not have to be ready to buy a house before you talk to me. That's actually the reason to talk early.”
You do not have to earn the call
“Waiting until they think they're ready before asking questions. You don't need to earn the right to talk to us. Call early.”
Questions about rent vs. buy
If yours is not here, send Samantha your numbers from the calculator.
Where do I get my monthly cost to own?
Add the mortgage payment, property tax, homeowners insurance, any association dues and an amount for upkeep. Our Michigan property tax calculator gives the tax after the reset, a Loan Estimate shows the payment for a specific loan, and Samantha can put the pieces together for a home you are looking at.
Why is my down payment not counted as a cost?
Because it stays yours as equity in the home. It comes back to you when you sell, less any fall in value and the cost of selling, which you can enter under Add more detail.
Where do I find the principal paid off in five years?
On page 3 of a Loan Estimate, in the In 5 Years box, as the principal you will have paid off. Our Loan Estimate check reads it for you.
Does Align tell me whether to rent or buy?
No. The calculator shows the arithmetic on your numbers, and the decision is yours. If you want to talk it through, Samantha will tell you what actually matters in your situation, including when the answer is to wait.
What does the calculator leave out?
What the down payment could earn elsewhere, repairs beyond the amount you put in your monthly figure, changes in property tax and insurance over time, and tax deductions. Principal paid down, a change in the home’s value and the cost of selling count only if you enter them.
Keep going
The numbers behind the answer
Michigan property tax
Your tax after the reset, from the exact millage for the address.
Michigan property taxLoan Estimate check
Upload a Loan Estimate and get feedback on what the lender charges.
Loan Estimate checkMortgage readiness quiz
Eight questions about your timing, savings, credit and job.
Mortgage readiness quizAll calculators
Every Align tool in one place, grouped by the question it answers.
All calculatorsAlign Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154, is a mortgage broker. Samantha Shelton, NMLS 1647301. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. The calculator shows arithmetic on the numbers you enter. It is not a prediction, a quote, a credit decision, an offer of credit or advice to rent or buy.
