Rent or Buy a Home?
Will buying this home leave me wealthier than renting and investing the difference?
A wealth comparison between keeping your rent and investing the cash, or buying with a mortgage. The break-even year tells you how long you need to stay for buying to pay off under your assumptions.
Price, down payment and mortgage rate.
Today’s rent and your expected stay.
The year buying overtakes renting.
Prepared by the Wealthton Editorial Team under our editorial policy. Last reviewed: October 5, 2026.
What this decision compares
Scenario A keeps renting and invests the down payment, plus any month where owning would have cost more than rent. Scenario B buys the home with a 30-year fixed mortgage and pays property tax, insurance and maintenance. The result compares the renter’s investment portfolio with the owner’s home equity at each horizon. It uses the same cost model as the Wealthton Rent vs Buy Calculator.
How to read the result
The most important output is usually the break-even year, not the final number. If you are likely to move before that year, renting tends to come out ahead because the early years of a mortgage are mostly interest and the upfront down payment has less time to grow as equity. Small changes in home price growth or investment return can move the answer by tens of thousands, so test a range rather than a single guess.
What the model does not include
It does not include buying or selling transaction costs, private mortgage insurance, HOA fees, mortgage interest tax deductions, capital gains rules, rent control, or the non-financial value of stability and control over your home. Local tax and insurance rates may differ significantly from the national-style assumptions used here.
Change one thing
Under the results, each card changes a single input and keeps everything else fixed, then shows how far the main result moves. Use Apply this change to adopt it, or Pin as baseline first so the page lists what you changed and the effect. Copy shareable link saves only the inputs in the link (after the #), which is never sent to our server.
Your inputs vs calculated results
Every number in the left-hand form is an assumption you control. The verdict, scenario cards and the results-over-time table are calculated from those inputs only. Fixed model assumptions are listed under the results so you can see exactly what is not coming from you. Inputs outside a sensible range are limited and flagged rather than silently changed.
Check the numbers elsewhere
For more detail on the same scenario, use the Rent vs Buy Calculator. For background on the trade-offs, read the Rent vs buy guide and Case study: renting vs buying with a five-year move. Our calculator methodology explains how Wealthton models are built and checked.
Related decisions
Should I Refinance My Mortgage? — Will a lower rate save enough to cover the closing costs before I move or pay off the loan?
How Big Should My Emergency Fund Be? — How many months of expenses should I keep in cash, and how long will it take to get there?
This is an educational scenario model, not personalized financial advice. Results depend entirely on the assumptions entered. See our disclosures, or contact us if you spot an error.