Using the Calculator
Access the HotPads Buy vs. Rent Calculator here. Or begin your buy vs. rent housing search.
There are a lot of factors that come into play when deciding whether to buy or rent your next home. Buying is often better for the long term, but what if you know you'll be moving to a new city in 2 years, or you'll need a couple extra bedrooms in 5 years.
What can you afford to pay out of pocket during that time, and which decision will leave you better off financially when it comes time to make the next move?
Put your best estimates into the boxes on the left, and continue on to see several charts showing the difference between buying and renting.
Have you been renting for years at $1,100/month but don't think you can afford to buy? Maybe you'd be surprised. Test a few combinations of numbers on the HotPads Buy vs. Rent Calculator to find out.
Available Charts
There are quite a few cool charts you can use:
- Buy vs. Rent Assets Chart showing the money you will have accumulated by the time you move.
- Buy vs. Rent Monthly Payments
- Buyer Monthly Payments
- Renter Monthly Payments
- Buyer Total Savings
- Buyer Avg. Monthly Savings
There are also helpful hints beside each chart option that explain the variable or output. Simply click on the "?" to see an informative blurb.
Not only can you go to the calculator to input all variables (under the Buy vs. Rent Calc. tab when you pull up a full listing view), you can also adjust some terms directly on the map when searching for a place.
Simply adjust the mortgage term, rate, and down payments you are interested in and hit "recalculate." The listings that correspond with your numbers will then be automatically displayed on the map.
And even if you aren't deciding between buying and renting, it is still a really interesting tool to play around with!
Links:
- Buy vs. Rent Calculator
- Buy vs. Rent Map Search (explanation)
- For Sale Map Search
- For Rent Map Search
