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Buy vs Rent Strategy Calculator

Compare renting, traditional buying, and house hack buying using projected cash flow, equity, reserve planning, and a simplified long-term decision view.

This calculator is for illustration only. It is not lender approval, tax advice, legal advice, or investment advice.

  • Qualification estimates are simplified and do not guarantee loan approval.
  • Rental income treatment depends on lender guidelines, appraisal support, and documentation.
  • Tax benefit estimates are directional and should be verified with a CPA.
  • PMI, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and rent growth assumptions may differ materially from actual results.
  • House hack scenarios assume the rental portion is lawful, rentable, and consistently marketable.
  • Exit costs and opportunity cost of down payment are not included in this version.

Comparison Setup

Buying Scenario
Include PMI
Use Tax Benefit Estimates

Purchase Assumptions

Renting Scenario Assumptions

Rental Unit Income Assumptions

Reserve Planning Inputs

Tax Estimate Inputs

Big Picture Summary

Estimated Value Today$0
Total Home Appreciation$0
Total Loan Paydown$0
Total Equity Built$0
What the Owner Actually Paid$0
Total Rental Income Offset$0
What Renting Would Cost$0
Out-of-Pocket Advantage vs Renting$0

Monthly Snapshot

Current Monthly Cost If You Keep Renting$0
Current Buy Monthly Cost$0
Current Monthly Rental Income Offset$0

Reserve Recommendations

Emergency Reserve (3 mo)$0
Property Reserve (6 mo)$0
Rental / Vacancy Reserve$0

Overall Advantage vs Renting

Includes Out-of-Pocket Difference, Equity, and Tax Effects
$0
—
Estimates only. This does not replace lender, tax, legal, or investment advice.

Advanced Details

This section breaks out the supporting numbers behind the main comparison. The wording below is intentionally explicit so it is clear which numbers belong to the “keep renting” scenario and which belong to the “buy / house hack” scenario.

Qualification Estimate

Housing Payment Used for DTI$0
Total DTI0%
Rental Income Used for Qualifying$0

Estimated Tax Effects

Owner-Occupied Interest Benefit$0
Rental Unit Tax Benefit$0
Total Estimated Tax Benefit$0

PMI

Total PMI Cost Over Hold Period$0

Cumulative Equity Built

Total equity over time from appreciation and loan paydown.

Annual Owner Out-of-Pocket

What the owner personally pays each year after rental income offset in the house hack scenario.

Year-by-Year Comparison

Shows the annual cost of continuing to rent, the owner's annual out-of-pocket cost, annual equity growth, and estimated tax effects.

Year Annual Cost If You Keep Renting Owner Annual Out-of-Pocket Annual Home Appreciation Annual Loan Paydown Annual Estimated Tax Benefit Cumulative Cost If You Keep Renting Cumulative Owner Out-of-Pocket Cumulative Equity Built

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