Real Estate Planner
Rent vs Buy Calculator
Should you rent or buy a house? Compare total costs and find the break-even year.
Configure Scenario
Opportunity cost of down payment if invested
You save ₹4.40 Cr over 20 years
Break-even: Year 1
Renting saves you ₹4.40 Cr over 20 years.
Buying breaks even at Year 1. After that, ownership costs less than renting.
Cumulative Net Cost: Buying vs Renting
Net cost = total outflow minus asset value. Lower is better. Buying breaks even at Year 1.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Total outflow, asset value, and net cost after 20 years
Year-by-Year Breakdown
Annual costs, cumulative net costs, and asset values for both paths
| Year | Rent/yr | Buy Cost/yr | Cum. Rent Net | Cum. Buy Net | Property | Investment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Break-even | ₹3.00 L | ₹7.86 L | -₹26,38,499 | -₹54,53,512 | ₹84.00 L | ₹29.38 L |
| 2 | ₹3.15 L | ₹7.92 L | -₹31,89,355 | -₹50,81,024 | ₹88.20 L | ₹38.04 L |
| 3 | ₹3.31 L | ₹7.99 L | -₹38,22,205 | -₹47,23,235 | ₹92.61 L | ₹47.68 L |
| 4 | ₹3.47 L | ₹8.05 L | -₹45,47,914 | -₹43,80,882 | ₹97.24 L | ₹58.41 L |
| 5 | ₹3.65 L | ₹8.12 L | -₹53,78,736 | -₹40,54,736 | ₹1.02 Cr | ₹70.36 L |
| 6 | ₹3.83 L | ₹8.20 L | -₹63,28,480 | -₹37,45,606 | ₹1.07 Cr | ₹83.69 L |
| 7 | ₹4.02 L | ₹8.27 L | -₹74,12,712 | -₹34,54,345 | ₹1.13 Cr | ₹98.55 L |
| 8 | ₹4.22 L | ₹8.35 L | -₹86,48,971 | -₹31,81,845 | ₹1.18 Cr | ₹1.15 Cr |
| 9 | ₹4.43 L | ₹8.44 L | -₹1,00,57,020 | -₹29,29,044 | ₹1.24 Cr | ₹1.34 Cr |
| 10 | ₹4.65 L | ₹8.53 L | -₹1,16,59,123 | -₹26,96,927 | ₹1.30 Cr | ₹1.54 Cr |
| 11 | ₹4.89 L | ₹8.62 L | -₹1,34,80,357 | -₹24,86,530 | ₹1.37 Cr | ₹1.77 Cr |
| 12 | ₹5.13 L | ₹8.72 L | -₹1,55,48,968 | -₹22,98,937 | ₹1.44 Cr | ₹2.03 Cr |
| 13 | ₹5.39 L | ₹8.82 L | -₹1,78,96,765 | -₹21,35,288 | ₹1.51 Cr | ₹2.32 Cr |
| 14 | ₹5.66 L | ₹8.93 L | -₹2,05,59,567 | -₹19,96,782 | ₹1.58 Cr | ₹2.64 Cr |
| 15 | ₹5.94 L | ₹9.04 L | -₹2,35,77,703 | -₹18,84,674 | ₹1.66 Cr | ₹3.01 Cr |
| 16 | ₹6.24 L | ₹9.16 L | -₹2,69,96,580 | -₹18,00,286 | ₹1.75 Cr | ₹3.41 Cr |
| 17 | ₹6.55 L | ₹9.28 L | -₹3,08,67,315 | -₹17,45,002 | ₹1.83 Cr | ₹3.86 Cr |
| 18 | ₹6.88 L | ₹9.42 L | -₹3,52,47,450 | -₹17,20,279 | ₹1.93 Cr | ₹4.37 Cr |
| 19 | ₹7.22 L | ₹9.55 L | -₹4,02,01,756 | -₹17,27,644 | ₹2.02 Cr | ₹4.94 Cr |
| 20 | ₹7.58 L | ₹9.70 L | -₹4,58,03,134 | -₹17,68,702 | ₹2.12 Cr | ₹5.57 Cr |
How This Calculator Works
This calculator compares two financial paths over your chosen time horizon:
The break-even year is when buying becomes cheaper than renting on a net-cost basis (total outflow minus asset value). Higher property appreciation and lower investment returns favor buying; higher investment returns and lower appreciation favor renting.
Calculator results are for illustration purposes only. Actual returns may vary based on market conditions, fund performance, and other factors. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks. Read all scheme-related documents carefully before investing. Past performance does not guarantee future returns.
Should you rent or buy? It comes down to the break-even year
Buying a home is as much a financial decision as an emotional one. Renting is not "throwing money away", and buying is not automatically "building an asset" — each has a real cost. The honest way to compare them is to total every rupee each option costs over the years you’ll actually stay, including the money you could have earned by investing the difference.
This calculator finds your break-even year — the point at which buying becomes cheaper than renting once you account for the down payment, EMI, property appreciation, rising rent, maintenance, and the opportunity cost of your capital. If you expect to move before that year, renting and investing the surplus is often the stronger financial call; if you’ll stay well beyond it, buying usually wins.
How this calculator works
- 1Enter the home price, your down payment, loan rate and tenure to get the EMI and total buying cost.
- 2Enter your current rent and the rate at which it rises each year.
- 3Set an expected property appreciation rate and the return you could earn by investing the money you’d otherwise put into a house.
- 4The calculator projects both paths year by year and marks the break-even year where buying overtakes renting.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to rent or buy a house in India?
There is no fixed answer — it depends on how long you’ll stay, local rental yields, home-loan rates and how the money would grow if invested instead. As a rule of thumb, the longer your horizon and the faster property appreciates relative to rent, the more buying favours you. This calculator turns that into a specific break-even year for your numbers.
What costs do people forget when comparing rent vs buy?
The big ones are the opportunity cost of the down payment (what it could have earned if invested), ongoing maintenance and society charges, property tax, stamp duty and registration at purchase, and brokerage. Leaving these out makes buying look cheaper than it really is — this calculator includes them.
What is the break-even year?
It is the year at which the cumulative cost of buying (EMI, down payment opportunity cost, maintenance, minus the home’s appreciated value) becomes lower than the cumulative cost of renting (rent paid, minus the growth on the money you saved by not buying). Before that year, renting is cheaper; after it, buying is.
Related tools
Results are illustrative projections based on the rates you enter; actual property prices, rents and investment returns vary and are not guaranteed.
Related Calculators
Explore more tools that pair well with this one
Emergency Fund Calculator
Find your ideal emergency fund based on expenses, dependents, and job stability.
Net Worth Calculator
Track assets and liabilities with wealth score and debt-to-asset ratio.
Break FD vs Take Loan
Should you break your FD or take a loan? Compare net cost with tax impact.
Lifestyle Inflation Calculator
See how lifestyle creep erodes your savings rate over time.
SIP Future Value Calculator
Calculate how much your monthly SIP will grow over time with the power of compounding.
Retirement SIP Planner
Calculate the monthly SIP needed for your retirement corpus.