What TrueCostHousing will never pretend to know

A calculator that never admits what it does not know is easy to build and easy to trust for the wrong reasons. Every tool on this site is required to state its limits as a condition of publication — see gate five of the five publication gates — and this page collects the commitments that apply sitewide, in addition to the specific "what this calculator does not include" section on every calculator page.

• We will not claim a property tax, insurance, rent, or construction cost by ZIP or county without a current named source.
• We will not present one number as your personal cost without showing the assumptions.
• We will not tell you to buy, sell, refinance, build, or invest.
• We will not let an advertiser buy favorable calculator defaults.

Verify material figures with the responsible lender, insurer, HOA, tax authority, contractor, or qualified professional.

No formula on this site can tell you a property's actual tax bill, a lender's actual approval decision, an insurer's actual premium, a contractor's actual bid, or a home's actual future value. Those numbers come from a tax authority, a lender's underwriting, an insurer's quote, a signed contract, or the market — a calculator can only show how such a figure would flow through the rest of the math once you have it.

Treat every result here as a starting point for a conversation, not a replacement for one. Before a purchase, sale, refinance, or construction decision, verify material figures with your lender, insurer, tax assessor, HOA, contractor, or a licensed attorney or financial advisor as appropriate — especially when a result is close to a decision threshold, like whether renting or buying comes out ahead. Questions about a specific figure or link can go through the contact page.