Rent or buy? See the time horizon, not a slogan.

Why "rent vs. buy" is a horizon question, not a monthly-payment question

Comparing a monthly rent check to a monthly mortgage payment answers the wrong question. Buying carries transaction costs on both ends — closing costs going in, selling costs coming out — that only get absorbed if you stay long enough. Renting carries none of those, but none of the equity growth either. The comparison only becomes fair once both sides use the same time horizon, the same estimate of how rent and home values might change over it, and the same honest accounting of what buying costs to enter and exit.

What tends to get left out of an honest comparison

• The opportunity cost of the down payment — money that could have been invested elsewhere instead of sitting in home equity.
• Selling costs at the end of the holding period, typically the largest single cost buyers forget to model.
• Maintenance and reserve costs on the ownership side, which renting doesn't carry at all.
• Moving and transition costs on both sides if the holding period is short.

The calculators above run the arithmetic once you've chosen your assumptions. For how to choose those assumptions without quietly biasing the result, read rent vs. buy: the assumptions that actually decide the answer and how to compare renting and buying responsibly.