Renting feels flexible, but every payment leaves your pocket forever. This calculator shows how much equity you would have built over 10 years if those same payments went toward owning instead.
When you rent, you pay for shelter and nothing else. When the month ends, that money is gone — you own no more than you did before. When you buy with a mortgage, a large part of each payment reduces your loan balance, steadily converting payments into equity: real wealth you keep when you sell or pass on the home.
This calculator uses a conservative assumption that roughly 65% of equivalent owner payments become equity over a 10-year horizon (the rest covers interest, taxes and upkeep). Even on that cautious basis, the lifetime gap between a renter and an owner is usually substantial.
The break-even point is how long you must own before buying beats renting, after recovering upfront costs (notary, agent, transfer taxes). In most markets it lands between 3 and 6 years. Use our Hidden Buying Costs calculator to find your exact upfront cost, then weigh it against the equity figure above.