The choice between buying a home and renting one is among the biggest financial decisions that many adults make. But the costs of buying are more varied and complicated than for renting, making it hard to tell which is a better deal. To help you answer this question, our calculator takes the most important costs associated with buying a house and computes the equivalent monthly rent.

How Long Do You Plan to Stay?

Buying tends to be better the longer you stay because the upfront fees are spread out over many years.

What Are Your Mortgage Details?

In addition to the interest rate and down payment, the calculator takes into account the mortgage-interest tax deduction.

What Does the Future Hold?

How much home prices, rents and stock prices change can have a large impact on your outcome. Unfortunately, these are some of the hardest things to predict. If you choose to rent instead of buying, the calculator assumes that you'll spend your would-be down payment on stocks or another investment.