Buy vs. rent

Buy a home, or rent and invest?

Owning is not automatically better. As a renter you can put the down payment and the monthly difference into a fund instead. This calculator runs both sides on the same budget - the same money out the door every month - and shows who ends up with more.

Buying and renting

5 %
30 years
30 years
Owning, per month
Kč 33,292
instalment Kč 25,767 + costs Kč 7,525
Renting, per month
Kč 20,000
Kč 13,292 less - that goes into the fund

You need Kč 1,440,000 up front (your own money + purchase costs). The mortgage is Kč 4,800,000, which is 80 % of the price. As a renter you invest that money instead.

After 30 years
Buying wins
by Kč 3,388,773
Wealth if you buy
Kč 25,153,705
Wealth if you rent
Kč 21,764,932
Crossover
4 years 2 mo
Yearly house price growth buying needs to break even
4.4 %

Grow faster than 4.4 % and buying wins; slower and renting with investing does. You are assuming 5 %.

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Net wealth over time

What you would walk away with if you cashed out that month

Buying Renting + investing Crossover
051015202530buying takes the lead4 years 2 moyears

Real market data

House prices, rents, inflation and wages from official statistics. Pick a country and load them into your assumptions - or replay an actual historical period.

data from 2026-09-13

Assumptions

This is where the answer is decided. You can load real figures for your country from the data above.

5 %
3.5 %
7 %
0.8 %
4 %
3 %
3 %
0 %

What it all cost

Paid for owning
Kč 16,021,560
of that interest Kč 4,476,278, upkeep and fees Kč 5,305,282
Paid in rent
Kč 12,623,091
last rent Kč 56,136 per month
Property value at the end
Kč 25,931,654
5 % a year
Fund value at the end
Kč 21,764,932
before tax on gains
Difference in today's money
Kč 1,396,130
adjusted for 3 % inflation

Year by year

YearPropertyRemaining debtBuyingRenting + investingDifference
0Kč 6,000,000Kč 4,800,000Kč 1,020,000Kč 1,440,000−Kč 420,000
1Kč 6,300,000Kč 4,729,182Kč 1,381,818Kč 1,705,904−Kč 324,086
2Kč 6,615,000Kč 4,654,742Kč 1,761,808Kč 1,986,060−Kč 224,252
3Kč 6,945,750Kč 4,576,493Kč 2,160,885Kč 2,281,356−Kč 120,471
4Kč 7,293,038Kč 4,494,240Kč 2,580,006Kč 2,592,740−Kč 12,734
5Kč 7,657,689Kč 4,407,779Kč 3,020,180Kč 2,921,228+Kč 98,952
28Kč 23,520,775Kč 587,340Kč 22,227,811Kč 19,013,551+Kč 3,214,261
29Kč 24,696,814Kč 300,995Kč 23,654,914Kč 20,346,151+Kč 3,308,763
30Kč 25,931,654Kč 0Kč 25,153,705Kč 21,764,932+Kč 3,388,773

Both sides spend the same money every month: whatever the owner pays above the rent (instalment, upkeep, fees), the renter invests - and when rent is the pricier side, it comes back out of the fund. Wealth is always what you would walk away with if you cashed out that month: for the owner the sale price minus selling costs and the remaining debt, for the renter the fund minus tax on gains. Income tax, subsidies and return volatility are not modelled. An educational model, not investment advice.

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