Rent vs Buy - Forest Hills Mortgage

Rent vs. Buy

The honest break-even — not a nudge to buy

Most rent-vs-buy calculators are built to make buying look inevitable. This one counts the things people forget: maintenance, property tax, closing and selling costs, and what your down payment could have earned invested instead. Then it just shows you the year buying pulls ahead — if it does.

Why I built this

Buying isn’t automatically smarter than renting — it depends on how long you stay and what you’d otherwise do with the money. If you might move in a few years, the costs to get in and back out can wipe out any gain, and renting while investing the difference can genuinely win. I’d rather you know that than hear a pitch. Change the assumptions and watch the break-even move. When you’re ready to see what you’d actually qualify for, try the affordability calculator or read the first-time buyer’s guide.

— Matt Mergo · NMLS #563819

Renting

Monthly rent

Rent increase per year

Buying

Home price

Down payment

Anything under 20% adds mortgage insurance you can model in the rate.

Mortgage rate

Loan term

yrs

Property tax per year

Percent of home value. PA runs higher than many states.

Homeowners insurance per year

HOA per month

Maintenance per year

Percent of home value. 1% a year is a common rule of thumb.

Closing costs to buy

Home appreciation per year

Assumptions

Selling costs when you leave

Agent commissions, transfer tax, and the like when you sell.

Return if you invested instead

The opportunity cost of tying up your down payment. A renter invests it instead.

How long will you stay? 7 years

Over your time in the home

—

If you rent

Total rent paid—

Investment gains on savings—

Net cost of renting—

If you buy

Total cash paid in—

Equity back at sale—

Net cost of buying—

Thinking it might be time to buy? Let’s run your real numbers

Educational estimate, not financial or investment advice. The model simulates each month: owning costs are principal, interest, property tax, insurance, HOA, and maintenance, with taxes and maintenance scaling as the home appreciates; at sale, equity is returned net of your selling-cost percentage. Renting invests your down payment and closing costs — plus any month owning costs more than rent — at the return you set, and credits the gains against rent paid. Results are highly sensitive to the appreciation and investment-return assumptions, which nobody can predict; change them and judge the range. Forest Hills Mortgage · Matt Mergo, NMLS #563819. Equal Housing Opportunity.