About the Rent vs Buy Calculator
What is the Rent vs Buy Calculator?
Buying a home builds equity but ties up a large down payment and adds EMIs, stamp duty and maintenance. Renting is cheaper month to month in most Indian cities — rental yields are only 2–4% — and lets you invest the difference. Which leaves you wealthier depends on your assumptions.
Enter the price, down payment, loan terms, rent and its growth, property appreciation, your investment return, purchase costs and how long you will stay. This rent vs buy calculator compares your wealth at the end: home value minus the loan left if you buy, versus your invested savings if you rent.
How to use the Rent vs Buy Calculator
- Property Price (₹) (sample: 80,00,000)
- Down Payment (%) (sample: 20)
- Home Loan Rate (% per year) (sample: 8.5)
- Loan Tenure (years) (sample: 20)
- Monthly Rent for a Similar Home (₹) (sample: 25,000)
- Yearly Rent Increase (%) (sample: 5)
- Property Price Growth (% per year) (sample: 5)
- Return on Money You Invest Instead (% per year) (sample: 10)
- Stamp Duty & Purchase Costs (% of price) (sample: 7)
- Years You Plan to Stay (sample: 15)
- Press Compare Renting and Buying (results also refresh as you type). The result card shows the Better Choice Over Your Horizon, along with Wealth if you buy (home value − loan left), Wealth if you rent and invest the difference, Monthly EMI and First-year rent.
Formula used
Buy wealth = Home value after N years − Loan outstanding
- Rent wealth = down payment + purchase costs invested, plus each month's (EMI + maintenance − rent) when positive, compounded at your investment return
- Maintenance = assumed at 0.5% of the price a year, rising 5% a year
Tax benefits on home loans and rental income on vacant homes are not included.
Worked example
These are the sample values already filled in the calculator above, and the result it returns for them:
| Input | Sample value |
|---|---|
| Property Price (₹) | 80,00,000 |
| Down Payment (%) | 20 |
| Home Loan Rate (% per year) | 8.5 |
| Loan Tenure (years) | 20 |
| Monthly Rent for a Similar Home (₹) | 25,000 |
| Yearly Rent Increase (%) | 5 |
| Property Price Growth (% per year) | 5 |
| Return on Money You Invest Instead (% per year) | 10 |
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Better Choice Over Your Horizon | Renting and investing, by ₹58,25,642 |
| Wealth if you buy (home value − loan left) | ₹1,39,24,307 |
| Wealth if you rent and invest the difference | ₹1,97,49,949 |
| Monthly EMI | ₹55,541 |
| First-year rent | ₹3,00,000 |
| Home value after 15 years | ₹1,66,31,425 |
Tips for using the Rent vs Buy Calculator
- Buying tends to win the longer you stay and the faster property prices rise.
- Renting wins when rent is a small share of the price and you invest the difference consistently.
- Non-financial factors — stability, schools, freedom to move — matter too.