LuniRentBuy · A Lunibyte financial tool
Rent or buy?
Settle it with net worth.
Monthly-payment comparisons lie. This calculator gives both households the same budget: whoever spends less invests the difference, and we compare net worth — home equity against the renter's portfolio — year by year. Every assumption is on the table and editable. Your numbers never leave your browser.
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Your two futures
The home you might buy — and the rent you'd otherwise pay.
The answer, in net worth
Same budget both ways. The cheaper side invests the difference.
The buyer's line is home value minus the remaining mortgage and selling costs. The renter's line is the invested down payment plus the invested monthly difference.
Methodology — how we count
The equal-budget rule
Both households spend the same total each month. When owning costs less than rent, the owner invests the spare cash; when rent is cheaper, the renter invests — starting with the whole down payment and closing costs, which is the buyer's real opportunity cost. Same return both sides, so the comparison stays honest.
What owning really costs
Mortgage payments, property tax (held at the purchase-price assessment — a stated simplification), insurance, HOA, and maintenance as a percent of the home's current value. The final buyer figure always subtracts selling costs (default 6%) — equity you can't actually spend isn't counted.
What moves the answer
Three things: how long you stay (transaction costs need years to amortize), the mortgage rate (today's is shown up top, from Freddie Mac data via FRED), and the investment return you assume for the renter's spare cash. If you wouldn't actually invest the difference, set that return to 0% — the honest answer changes, and that's fine.
Questions, answered straight
Isn't buying always better than "throwing money away on rent"?
Rent buys you a home too — the landlord's costs are just invisible. Owners "throw away" interest, tax, insurance and maintenance: on a $450,000 home at today's rates that's over $45,000 in the first year alone, none of which builds equity. The question is never rent vs. free housing; it's which pile of unrecoverable costs is smaller, and for how long.
Why does staying longer favor buying?
Buying has heavy one-time costs (closing in, ~6% out) and early mortgage payments are mostly interest. Renting has no entry fee. Given enough years, the fixed payment and appreciation usually overcome the head start — the break-even year above is exactly that crossover under your assumptions.
What return should I assume for the invested difference?
Something you'd genuinely earn. A diversified portfolio has historically returned roughly 6–8% a year before tax over long periods; a high-yield savings account pays far less. And if in real life you'd spend the difference, use 0% — the tool then shows the pure housing-cost comparison, which is the honest one for you.
What isn't counted?
Tax deductions (mortgage interest, SALT caps — highly personal), the value of stability and control, landlord risk, home repairs beyond the maintenance percentage, and the fact that a forced monthly mortgage payment is a savings discipline renters must self-impose. This is a money model, not a life model; weight the rest yourself.
Is this financial advice?
No — it's an educational model with every assumption exposed for you to change. Rates are national averages/estimates, not quotes. Lunibyte is not a lender or financial advisor, and your inputs never leave your browser.
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