Buyer tool

Rent vs. Buy Calculator

If you stay long enough, buying usually wins. If you don't, renting wins. This tool finds your break-even year — and shows the total cost of each scenario over your expected holding period.

Compare

Home price

$

Comparable monthly rent

$

Rent for an equivalent home in your target neighborhood. Median 3-bed Seattle SFR is around $3,700/mo in 2026.

Down payment

$

Interest rate

%

How long will you stay?

years

Loan term

Home appreciation

% / yr

Greater Seattle 20-yr average is ~5%; conservative bet 3–4%.

Rent growth

% / yr

Property tax

% / yr

Maintenance

% / yr

Rule of thumb: 1% of home value per year.

Investment return (renter scenario)

% / yr

Return earned on the down payment plus any monthly cost savings vs. buying.

Selling costs (% of sale)

%

Buyer-agent commission + REET + escrow. Use ~6% for a percentage-commission listing; lower with a flat fee (WA Homes Full saves you ~3% of sale price).

Homeowners insurance ($/yr)

$

HOA ($/month)

$

Set to 0 for single-family without an HOA.

Estimate only. The model uses straight-line appreciation and rent growth; real markets are lumpy. Tax deductions for mortgage interest and SALT are not modeled (Washington has no state income tax, so impact is smaller than in California or New York).

How the comparison works

For each year of your holding period, the calculator runs both scenarios in parallel:

Buying: mortgage payments, property tax, insurance, maintenance, HOA, and up-front down payment + closing costs. At the end, you sell — getting back the home's appreciated value minus mortgage payoff, REET, and selling costs.
Renting: rent (growing each year). The down payment + closing costs you'd have spent buying go into an investment portfolio at the assumed return rate. Each year that buying costs more than renting, the difference also goes into the portfolio (apples-to-apples comparison). At the end, you keep the portfolio.

Net cost = total cash out minus what you get back at the end (home equity for buyers, investment growth for renters). Lower number wins.

What pushes the break-even earlier

Higher rent growth
Higher home appreciation
Lower interest rates
Lower selling costs (a flat-fee listing helps here)

What pushes it later

High investment-return assumptions on the renter side
High maintenance / HOA assumptions
Short holding periods (under 4 years rarely wins)

The Seattle reality check

Greater Seattle home prices compounded around 5–6% per year over the last 20 years (with significant volatility — including the 2026 dip of about 2% YoY). Recent 5-yr CAGR is closer to 2.5%. If you plan to stay 5+ years and have a stable income, buying usually wins. Under 4 years, renting almost always does. Want us to run real comps for your scenario?

Next: try the mortgage calculator for the actual monthly payment, or the affordability calculator if you're sizing how much house your income supports.