Rent vs Buy Calculator
Owning a $400,000 home with 20% down at 6.5% costs $2,923 a month once tax, insurance and maintenance are counted: $2,023 of principal and interest, $567 of escrow and $333 of upkeep. Against $2,200 of rent that is $723 more each month, before any of it comes back as equity.
This estimate does not include property taxes, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance or HOA dues. Your actual payment obligation will be greater.
These figures are the arithmetic of the assumptions you entered. BEDRWay is not a lender, does not quote rates, and this is not a loan offer, a pre-qualification or a commitment to lend. A licensed loan officer runs your actual numbers.
On this page
What this page compares, and what it refuses to
It compares cash leaving your hands this month. Principal and interest, property tax, insurance and maintenance on one side; rent on the other. That is a smaller question than most rent versus buy calculators answer, and it is one that can be answered honestly.
cost of owning = P&I + (tax + insurance + maintenance) ÷ 12
Why there is no appreciation rate
Because there is no number to put in the box. A calculator assuming four percent a year will tell you to buy. The same calculator assuming one percent will tell you to rent. Neither of them knows, and the assumption drives the verdict more than any figure you typed in.
Most tools in this category ship five or six such assumptions at once: appreciation, rent growth, investment return on the down payment, selling costs, and a tax rate. The output looks authoritative and is mostly a function of defaults the reader never saw.
Why there is no tax deduction either
The standard deduction is high enough that most owners get no benefit at all from itemising mortgage interest. Whether you are one of them depends on your whole return, your state and your filing status. Assuming a deduction you may not receive flatters the owning column for the majority of readers, which is the wrong direction for a page on a site that would rather you bought.
Maintenance is in, because leaving it out is a lie
One percent of value a year is the common rule of thumb and it is rough. Newer houses run under it for a while and then catch up; older ones sit above it. What matters is that it is not zero, which is the assumption a surprising number of comparisons make silently. A landlord pays for the roof, and a renter does not.
What the monthly gap does not tell you
- Rent rises and this page holds it still. The gap narrows over time, often substantially, and the figure above does not show that.
- Part of an owner's payment is savings. Principal repaid is equity, not cost, and in the early years it is a small part of the payment.
- Selling costs are real, and they are why buying for two years is usually worse than the monthly comparison suggests.
- Flexibility has a value that is different for everybody and appears in no calculator.
Treat the figure above as the starting point of the decision rather than the end of it. It is the one part of the comparison that can be worked out rather than assumed.
The gap at other rents and prices
| Rent | On a $350,000 | On a $400,000 | On a $450,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,800 | $757 | $1,123 | $1,488 |
| $2,000 | $557 | $923 | $1,288 |
| $2,200 | $357 | $723 | $1,088 |
| $2,600 | -$43 | $323 | $688 |
| $3,000 | -$443 | -$77 | $288 |
This estimate does not include property taxes, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance or HOA dues. Your actual payment obligation will be greater.
These figures are the arithmetic of the assumptions you entered. BEDRWay is not a lender, does not quote rates, and this is not a loan offer, a pre-qualification or a commitment to lend. A licensed loan officer runs your actual numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this not model appreciation?
Because there is no defensible number to put in the box. A calculator that assumes 4% a year will tell you to buy and one that assumes 1% will tell you to rent, and neither of them knows. This page compares the cash leaving your hands this month, which is a smaller question it can answer honestly.
What about the tax deduction?
It is left out on purpose. The standard deduction is high enough that most owners get no benefit from itemising mortgage interest at all, and whether you are one of them depends on your whole return. Assuming a benefit you may not receive would flatter the owning column for the majority of readers.
Is the maintenance figure realistic?
One percent of value a year is the common rule of thumb and it is a rough one. An older house runs above it, a new build below it for the first years and then catches up. What matters is that it is not zero, which is the assumption most rent versus buy comparisons quietly make.
What is missing from the renting side?
Rent goes up and this page holds it still, so the gap narrows over time in a way the figure above does not show. Against that, renting has no maintenance, no property tax and no transaction cost when you leave. The month-by-month comparison is a starting point, not a verdict.
Sources
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, national weekly average mortgage rates, retrieved 2026-08-24
Last updated: August 25, 2026