Homelytics — Buy vs Rent

Compare buying a home to renting and investing the difference (monthly model, sold at the horizon).

Scenario

Scenario name
Used in exports and file names.
Listing URL (optional)
Home listing link for this buy scenario. Exported and re-importable.
Notes
Optional context (assumptions, links, reminders). Exported with the scenario.

Key derived values

Mortgage principal
$0
Payment $0/mo • Term 360 mo
Financed: $0 • Down: $0
Upfront cash outlay
$0
Down + (optional) extra + cash closing
Rates
Home app: 3% • Rent growth: 3% • Invest: 7%

Getting started

Scenario details live on the left. Set your assumptions below, then jump to the results tabs:
Tip: use Export / Import to share scenarios.

General
Analysis horizon (years)
Model runs monthly; home is sold at this horizon.
Starting liquid assets
Cash/investments available today. Renting invests all of this; buying invests what remains after upfront cash outlay.
$

Buying (home ownership)
Purchase & financing
Purchase price
Contract price.
$
Upfront renovation cost
One-time cost at close. In this model it is added to the financed amount (i.e. increases mortgage principal).
$
Renovation adds to value
How much of renovation spend is reflected in home value.
%
Closing costs (financed)
Added to the loan principal (simplification).
$
Closing costs (cash)
Paid upfront, not added to the loan.
$
Down payment (cash)
Paid upfront; reduces principal.
$
Extra upfront paydown
Optional additional cash used at close to reduce principal (enables an alternate scenario).
$
Mortgage & appreciation
Mortgage APR
Nominal APR (not EAR).
%
Mortgage term (years)
Fixed-rate fully amortizing mortgage.
Annual home appreciation
Annual appreciation, converted to an equivalent monthly rate.
%
Ongoing home costs
Property tax (annual, year 1)
Will grow at HOA+tax growth rate.
$
HOA (monthly, year 1)
Will grow at HOA+tax growth rate.
$
HOA + tax growth (annual)
Annual growth, converted to an equivalent monthly rate.
%
Home insurance (monthly, year 1)
Will grow at insurance growth rate.
$
Insurance growth (annual)
Annual growth, converted to an equivalent monthly rate.
%
Maintenance (% of value / year)
Rule-of-thumb maintenance reserve.
%
CapEx reserve (% of value / year)
Long-run capital expenditures reserve.
%
Rental income (optional)
Rental income (monthly, year 1)
Income from the property (e.g. roommates / ADU). This reduces the buy-side monthly cost.
$
Rental income growth (annual)
How fast that rental income increases over time.
%
Tax on rental income
Simple effective tax rate applied to rental income (the model uses after-tax income as the offset).
%
Exit / sale
Selling costs (% of sale price)
Realtor + transfer taxes + misc.
%
Fixed selling costs
One-time fixed costs at sale.
$
Moving costs at sale
Optional one-time moving / staging.
$
Taxes (optional)
Tax mode
Simple model: apply an effective benefit rate to (interest + property tax).
Tax benefit rate
Effective % of (interest + property tax) that returns as a benefit.
%

Renting
Rent (monthly, year 1)
Base rent cost when renting.
$
Rent growth (annual)
Annual growth, converted to an equivalent monthly rate.
%
Renter's insurance (monthly, year 1)
Included in rent cost, grows with rent.
$

Investing
Investment return (annual)
Annual return, converted to an equivalent monthly rate for the "invest the difference" account.
%
Discount rate (annual)
Used for NPV (not for the investment account).
%