Rent vs. Buy

Should you rent or should you buy your home? It takes more than looking at your mortgage payment to answer this question. This calculator helps you weed through the fees, taxes, and monthly payments to help you make a good financial decision.

This Financial Calculator requires a Browser with Java Support. If you are seeing this message you will need to download SUN's Java Plug-in. This can be done simply, and automatically, by clicking the link below:

Get the Java Plug-in!

Press enter to recalculate

Definitions

Price of home:

Purchase price of the home you wish to buy.

Cash on hand:

Cash you have for the down payment and closing costs.

Interest rate:

The current interest rate you can receive on your mortgage.

Term in years:

The number of years over which you will repay this loan.

Property tax rate:

Your property tax rate. 1% for a $100,000 home equals $1,000 per year in property taxes.

Home insurance rate:

Your homeowner's insurance rate. 0.5% for a $100,000 home equals $500 per year for homeowner's insurance.

Loan origination rate:

The percentage the lending institution charges for its origination fee. 1% for a $100,000 home equals $1,000.

Points paid:

The total number of points paid to reduce the interest rate of your mortgage. Each point costs 1% of your mortgage balance.

Other closing costs:

Estimate of all other closing costs for this loan. This should include filing fees, appraiser fees and any other misc. fees paid.

Total closing costs:

Total up front costs to close your loan. This is the sum of the loan origination fee, amount paid for points and other closing costs.

Total for down payment:

Total funds remaining for down payment.

Mortgage amount:

Total amount of loan.

Investment return:

Annual percentage return you would receive if you invested your closing costs and down payment instead of purchasing a home.

Monthly rent payment:

Amount you currently pay for rent per month.

Income tax rate:

Your current marginal income tax rate.

Expected inflation rate:

Inflation rate used to adjust amounts subject to annual increases. This includes rent, insurance and tax payments.

Home appreciates at:

Annual appreciation you expect in the home you are purchasing.

Future sales commission:

The percent of your homes selling price you expect to pay to a broker or real estate agent when you sell your home.

House payment:

Total of principal, interest, taxes and insurance paid per month for your home. Insurance includes PMI and homeowner.

Principal payment:

Total of principal paid per month on your mortgage.

Tax savings:

The value of the tax deduction you receive on your mortgage's interest and home's property taxes. For example, if you have $900 in interest and $100 property taxes per month, the value of the tax deduction would be $280. (At a tax rate of 28%)

Net house payment:

Your house payment minus the value of the tax deduction and principal payment. .

Net home price:

Net selling price of your home after subtracting any sales commissions.

Monthly PI:

Monthly principal and interest payment.

Monthly PMI:

Monthly cost of Principal Mortgage Insurance (PMI). For loans secured with less than 20% down, PMI is estimated at 0.5% of your loan balance each year.