The real math most calculators skip. See your total wealth under both paths.
Most rent-vs-buy tools compare monthly mortgage payments to monthly rent. If the mortgage is lower, they say “buy.” That math is incomplete. This calculator tracks total net wealth over time under both scenarios. Buying: home equity minus all costs. Renting: down payment invested plus monthly savings compounding at market returns.
The crossover point depends on how long you stay, how fast the home appreciates, and what your money could earn elsewhere. For most people in most markets, buying doesn’t win until year 7-10.
It depends on three things most calculators ignore: the opportunity cost of your down payment, transaction costs on both ends (closing + selling), and the time horizon. In high-closing-cost countries like Germany (10%), France (8%), or Spain (10%), buying needs many more years to break even than in the US (3%) or a Norwegian borettslag (1%).
Your down payment isn’t just money you spend — it’s money you can’t invest. $60,000 at 7% becomes $118,000 in 10 years. Traditional calculators treat the down payment as gone either way. If you rent, that money works for you.
Transaction costs punish short stays. Between closing costs and selling costs, you lose 5-16% of the home’s value just to enter and exit (depending on country). Appreciation needs years to overcome that drag. “How long will you stay” matters more than any other input.
Housing costs, tax rules, and norms differ dramatically by country. This calculator includes verified defaults and correct tax treatment for the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, and Spain. Use Custom mode for any other country.
Built by Lucas Andersen, former institutional energy trader who spent a career modeling exactly this kind of total-return analysis. Your data never leaves your browser.