Rent vs Buy Calculator API

Compare buying a home with renting and investing the difference, year by year: net worth of each, the break-even year and who is ahead at the end. Ignores taxes on gains, tax relief and PMI.

Compare renting and buying a home over time: mortgage, tax, maintenance, appreciation and investing the difference, with net worth by year and the break-even year.

Input

Send these as a JSON object. Unknown fields are rejected.

price

Home price. (number, 0 to …, required)

downPayment

Down payment (at most the price). (number, 0 to …, default 0)

rate

Mortgage interest rate in percent (0 to 30). (number, 0 to 30, required)

termYears

Mortgage term in whole years (1 to 50). (integer, 1 to 50, default 30)

taxPercent

Annual property tax as a % of the home's value (0 to 10). (number, 0 to 10, default 0)

maintenancePercent

Annual maintenance as a % of the home's value (0 to 20). (number, 0 to 20, default 1)

insurance

Annual home insurance amount. (number, 0 to …, default 0)

appreciation

Annual home price growth in percent (−50 to 50). (number, -50 to 50, default 3)

closingPercent

Buying costs paid up front, as a % of the price (0 to 50). (number, 0 to 50, default 3)

sellingPercent

Selling costs, as a % of the sale price, deducted from the buyer's equity (0 to 50). (number, 0 to 50, default 6)

rent

Monthly rent for an equivalent home. (number, 0 to …, required)

rentIncrease

Annual rent increase in percent (−50 to 50). (number, -50 to 50, default 3)

investReturn

Annual return on invested savings in percent (−50 to 50). (number, -50 to 50, default 5)

years

Years to compare (1 to 50). (integer, 1 to 50, default 10)

breakdown

Include the year-by-year rows (costs, home value, loan balance, both net worths). (boolean, default false)