Rent vs Buy Calculator.

Not necessarily. Buying makes financial sense when property appreciation exceeds the opportunity cost of the down payment, and when you plan to stay in the same city for at least 5–7 years. If you move frequently or invest the down payment in higher-yielding assets, renting can be the smarter financial choice.

It depends mostly on how long you stay. For a ₹50 lakh home with ₹10 lakh down and a ₹15,000 rent, buying needs prices to grow about 8.2% a year to win over 3 years, 6.9% over 5 years, 6.3% over 7 years and 5.9% over 10 years, with a 7.5% loan and savings earning 8%. The calculator works out this figure for your own numbers, so you can judge it against how your locality has actually grown.

It is the first year in which buying leaves you with a higher net worth than renting. This calculator tracks both paths month by month. The buyer's net worth is the home's value minus the loan still owed and the cost of selling; the renter's is an investment portfolio plus the returned deposit. Both start with the same cash, and whatever one path spends less on each month is invested. The chart shows where the two lines cross.

Because part of every EMI repays the loan, and that part becomes equity in a house you own. Counting the full EMI as money gone, without crediting the home's value at the end, makes buying look far worse than it is. Only the interest portion, property tax, maintenance, stamp duty and selling costs are true costs of owning; the rest shows up in your net worth.

The down payment is a significant upfront cost that also has an opportunity cost — that money could have been invested. A higher down payment lowers your EMI but increases the capital you are tying up in an illiquid asset. The calculator factors in the potential return on this capital if invested elsewhere.

Yes. Rents in Indian cities typically escalate 5–10% per year. Over a 10-year period, a ₹30,000/month rent becomes ₹49,000–₹78,000. This escalation makes renting progressively more expensive over time and is a key factor that often tips the calculation in favour of buying for long-term residents.

Beyond the EMI, buyers pay stamp duty and registration (7.6% of the property value in Bengaluru), property tax, society maintenance and, when they eventually sell, brokerage and other selling costs. This calculator includes all of these as inputs. It leaves out interiors, loan processing fees and home-loan tax deductions (which exist only under the old tax regime), so adjust the buying-costs figure if you want to include them.

Renting wins when: you are uncertain about staying in the city for more than 3–4 years; property prices are high relative to rents (low rental yield signals an overpriced market); your investment portfolio is generating returns that outpace property appreciation; or you are early in your career and your income is likely to grow significantly.