Rent vs buy calculator

Both sides are simulated month by month. The buyer pays deposit, closing costs, a fixed-rate mortgage, property tax, maintenance, insurance and HOA, then sells at the end and pays selling costs off the sale price. The renter takes the same cash the buyer sank into the purchase, invests it at the chosen return, and every month the cheaper path banks the cost gap. Rent, insurance and HOA step up once a year; the home value and both investment pots compound monthly.

What this does not do: it skips capital gains tax on the sale, tax relief or deductions on mortgage interest, private mortgage insurance, remortgaging, and any rent you'd pay on the invested savings. The payment is a model figure at unrounded precision, not a lender's quote. Rates hold flat for the whole horizon, which real markets never do.