Buy vs rent calculator
Compare the net cost of buying with a mortgage versus renting over a chosen time horizon.
The model invests your down payment (at the given return) in the renting scenario, but it does not reinvest the month-to-month cash-flow difference between the mortgage payment and the rent. If one option leaves you more free cash each month, its real outcome may be better than shown here.
Buying is cheaper: you save about €20,516 over 10 years.
Information, not tax or financial advice.
How the buy vs rent calculator works
There's no universal answer to "buy or rent?": it depends on the numbers and, above all, on two assumptions: how much the home will appreciate and what return you'd get investing the down-payment money.
How to read the result. We compare the net cost of each option over the horizon you pick. Buying adds the down payment, instalments and costs, then subtracts the equity you build. Renting adds the rent and subtracts what you'd earn investing the capital you don't tie up.
How to use it (from the default values). With 2 % appreciation and a 5 % investment return, move those two figures: if the home appreciates 6 %, buying usually wins; if it barely rises and markets give you 9 %, renting and investing can win. The verdict changes before your eyes.
An important note. The result is highly sensitive to the appreciation and return assumptions, which nobody knows in advance. Use it to understand the levers, not as a prediction.