Question 1

What does the Rent vs Buy calculator compare?

Accepted Answer

Your projected net worth at the end of the loan tenure under two complete scenarios: renting (where the down payment and any EMI-sized savings get invested) versus buying (where you own an appreciating house but pay EMIs and the down payment). It is a wealth comparison, not just a rent-versus-EMI comparison.

Question 2

What inputs does it need?

Accepted Answer

Rent details (monthly rent, security deposit, expected annual rent growth), house details (price, down payment, expected appreciation), and financing details (loan interest rate, tenure, and the return you expect on invested savings).

Question 3

How is the renting net worth calculated?

Accepted Answer

The down payment you did not spend is invested for the full tenure, and in any year the EMI exceeds rent, the difference is invested monthly too. From that corpus, the calculator subtracts everything renting cost you - total rent paid and the security deposit.

Question 4

How is the buying net worth calculated?

Accepted Answer

The house's appreciated value at the end of the tenure, plus any invested savings from years when rent would have exceeded the EMI, minus everything buying cost you - all EMIs and the down payment.

Question 5

Why does renting sometimes win?

Accepted Answer

Because the invested down payment and EMI savings can compound faster than the house appreciates. At the default inputs - ₹35,000 rent versus a ₹1.2 crore house with 6% appreciation and 12% investment returns - renting ends about ₹69 lakh ahead over 15 years. Change the appreciation or return assumptions and the answer can flip.

Question 6

Which assumptions matter most?

Accepted Answer

The gap between your expected investment return and the house appreciation rate dominates the result, followed by rent growth. Test the decision at pessimistic values of each before acting on it - a conclusion that survives a 2% swing is worth trusting.

Question 7

What does the calculator leave out?

Accepted Answer

Maintenance, property tax, registration and brokerage costs, home-loan tax deductions, and rent's tax treatment - most of these modestly favor renting in practice. It also assumes you stay put for the whole tenure and invest the savings with discipline.

Question 8

Should the decision be purely financial?

Accepted Answer

No. Stability for a family, freedom to relocate for work, and the discipline of a forced EMI all have real value that never appears in a net-worth number. Use the result as the financial baseline, then weigh the life factors deliberately.

Year	Rent	EMI	EMI savings	EMI savings growth	Rent savings	Rent savings growth
1	₹4,20,000	₹9,92,617	₹5,72,617	₹6,11,237	₹0	₹0
2	₹4,62,000	₹9,92,617	₹5,30,617	₹12,55,162	₹0	₹0
3	₹5,08,200	₹9,92,617	₹4,84,417	₹19,31,436	₹0	₹0
4	₹5,59,020	₹9,92,617	₹4,33,597	₹26,39,232	₹0	₹0
5	₹6,14,922	₹9,92,617	₹3,77,695	₹33,77,121	₹0	₹0
6	₹6,76,414	₹9,92,617	₹3,16,203	₹41,42,954	₹0	₹0
7	₹7,44,056	₹9,92,617	₹2,48,562	₹49,33,710	₹0	₹0
8	₹8,18,461	₹9,92,617	₹1,74,156	₹57,45,330	₹0	₹0
9	₹9,00,307	₹9,92,617	₹92,310	₹65,72,517	₹0	₹0
10	₹9,90,338	₹9,92,617	₹2,279	₹74,08,510	₹0	₹0
11	₹10,89,372	₹9,92,617	₹0	₹82,97,532	₹96,754	₹1,03,280
12	₹11,98,309	₹9,92,617	₹0	₹92,93,235	₹2,05,692	₹3,35,943
13	₹13,18,140	₹9,92,617	₹0	₹1,04,08,424	₹3,25,522	₹7,26,025
14	₹14,49,954	₹9,92,617	₹0	₹1,16,57,434	₹4,57,336	₹13,06,285
15	₹15,94,949	₹9,92,617	₹0	₹1,30,56,327	₹6,02,332	₹21,14,910

Rent vs Buy Calculator

Rent details

House details

Other details

Net worth after 15 years

If you rent

If you buy

Year-by-year comparison

Frequently asked questions

Keep planning

EMI Calculator

SIP Calculator

Step-up SIP Calculator