About RentOrOwn

Why We Built This

Most rent vs buy calculators online are either too simple to be useful or built by companies that profit when you buy a home. They skip important factors like opportunity cost, tax deduction thresholds, closing costs on the sell side, and what happens to your money if you invest instead of buying.

RentOrOwn was built to give you an honest, complete picture. We don't sell mortgages, refer agents, or earn commissions. The calculator is free, has no sign-up, and runs entirely in your browser — your data never leaves your device.

What Makes It Different

• Invest-the-difference methodology. If you rent instead of buy, the calculator assumes you invest the down payment, closing costs, and any monthly savings into the market. This is the true opportunity cost of buying and most calculators ignore it entirely.
• Location-specific data. Appreciation rates, property taxes, and rent growth are pre-filled for hundreds of metros and states across the US, Canada, and the UK, using FHFA HPI, Census, and BLS data.
• Tax deduction modeling. Instead of just saying “mortgage interest is tax-deductible,” the calculator checks whether your itemized deductions actually exceed the standard deduction each year. For many homeowners, especially with smaller mortgages, there is no tax benefit — and the calculator shows that honestly.
• Monte Carlo simulation. Real life doesn't follow a straight line. The Monte Carlo feature runs thousands of randomized scenarios to show you the probability distribution of outcomes, not just one deterministic answer.
• Refinance and exit strategy modeling. Plan future refinances, compare selling vs renting out the property after you move, and project net worth years into the future.

Our Data Sources

Location-specific data is sourced from publicly available government and academic datasets:

• Home appreciation rates — FHFA House Price Index (trailing 10–20 year averages by state and metro)
• Property tax rates — US Census Bureau, provincial/municipal records (CA/UK)
• Rent growth rates — BLS CPI Shelter component, CMHC (Canada), ONS (UK)
• Investment return benchmarks — S&P 500, TSX Composite, FTSE All-Share historical averages
• Projected appreciation model — Multi-factor model using job growth (BLS QCEW), population trends (Census), supply constraints, and mean reversion (Capozza et al. 2004)

Data is updated periodically. All projections are estimates and past performance does not guarantee future results.

Privacy

RentOrOwn runs entirely in your browser. All calculations happen on your device. We do not collect, store, or transmit any of the financial data you enter into the calculator. There are no accounts, no cookies tracking your inputs, and no third-party analytics watching what numbers you type.

Open Source

The calculator's source code is publicly available. If you find a bug, want to suggest a feature, or want to verify the math yourself, you're welcome to inspect the code and contribute.