Rent vs Buy NPV Comparison
Present-value cost of buying vs renting over a holding period, discounted at your investment return. Mortgage, tax, insurance, HOA, maintenance, appreciation, and net sale vs inflating rent; break-even year. NYT methodology.
Formula and source
discount d_t = 1/(1+i)^t, i = investment return. PV_buy = down_payment + Σ ownership_outflow_t * d_t − net_sale * d_N, where ownership_outflow = P&I*12 + tax_pct*price + insurance + HOA*12 + maint_pct*price and net_sale = price*(1+appr)^N − sell_pct*value − loan_balance_N. PV_rent = Σ rent*12*(1+rent_infl)^(t-1) * d_t. difference = PV_buy − PV_rent.
New York Times 'Is It Better to Rent or Buy?' rent-vs-buy methodology (published interactive). AICPA personal-financial-planning guidance. First-principles discounted cash flow.
Audience
This tile is built for trades and the adjacent professions in the Real Estate group. The interactive calculator runs entirely in your browser. No account, no fee, no advertising, no tracking.
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