Rent vs. Buy Calculator
The full cost of each path over your timeline, equity, appreciation, taxes, and maintenance counted, not just rent against a mortgage payment.
Simplified comparison. Assumes 3% appreciation, 3% rent growth, 1%/yr maintenance, and ~3% closing costs. Actual results vary by market, credit, and circumstances.
$69,847
saved over 5 years by buying
Net Cost to Buy
$25,718
Cost to Rent
$95,564
Equity After 5 Yrs
$120,797
The assumptions doing the work
No calculator knows the future, so this one pins the unknowables to middle-of-the-road numbers and leaves you the input that matters most: how long you'll stay. Equity needs time to outrun the one-time cost of buying, that's why the verdict usually flips in the three-to-five-year range, not at year one.
3%
Home appreciation / yr
Roughly the long-run national average, Dayton has tracked near it
3%
Rent increase / yr
Compounds quietly, a $1,500 rent is about $1,740 by year five
1%
Maintenance / yr
Of home value, roofs and furnaces, averaged out
3%
Closing costs
One-time cost of buying, counted against the buy side
How to get an honest verdict
- 1
Price the home you would actually buy
Use a realistic Dayton-area price and your true down payment, not a hypothetical 20% if you are planning on 5%. PMI and loan size change the math.
- 2
Enter your real rent
Use rent for a home of comparable quality, not your current lease. If buying means upgrading from a one-bedroom to a house, compare against what that house rents for.
- 3
Set your years to stay
This is the swing variable. Equity needs time to outrun the one-time cost of buying, so short timelines favor renting and long ones favor buying.
- 4
Read the verdict
The buy side counts everything you pay minus the equity you keep (principal paid plus 3% annual appreciation). The rent side compounds a 3% annual increase. Whichever nets lower wins.
Questions people actually ask
How long do I need to stay in a Dayton home for buying to beat renting?
It depends on your rate, rent, and price, but with typical Dayton numbers the verdict usually flips somewhere in the three-to-five-year range. Under two or three years, the one-time costs of buying and selling rarely have time to be offset by equity. Adjust the years-to-stay input above to find your own break-even point.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Dayton right now?
Dayton home prices are low relative to rents compared with most U.S. metros, which tilts the math toward buying sooner here than in coastal cities. But a fair comparison has to count property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on the buy side. This calculator includes all three, which is why its monthly ownership number runs higher than a bare mortgage payment.
What does this calculator assume?
Home appreciation at 3% per year, rent increases at 3% per year, maintenance at 1% of home value per year, and one-time closing costs of about 3% of the purchase price. Those are deliberately middle-of-the-road. It does not model tax deductions or what your down payment could have earned invested elsewhere. If those matter to your situation, treat the verdict as a starting point.
I'm PCSing to Wright-Patt for a three-year tour. Should I buy?
Three years is right on the edge, so run your real numbers rather than trusting a rule of thumb. A VA loan changes the cash side, $0 down means less money tied up. But plan your exit before you buy. Steady rental demand near the base makes keeping the home as a rental after you PCS a genuine option, and that possibility is worth weighing alongside the sell-at-year-three math.
Tools that pair with this one
The verdict is math. The decision is yours.
Chris will pressure-test your numbers against what's actually on the Dayton market, and tell you plainly if renting another year is the smarter play.