Compare buying a property with renting over the long term: net-worth development, total spending and the break-even year, transparently using shared purchase-cost and annuity logic.
Available
Inputs
Enter values
Live
Purchase option
EUR
%
Only the agreed buyer's share.
%
Adjustable planning assumption.
EUR
%
%
EUR
Maintenance and service charges excluding recoverable costs.
%
Assumption; future values are uncertain.
Rent option
EUR
%
%
Return on invested equity and savings.
Period
years
Load example
For illustration only – your own calculation is what counts.
Explanation
How Buy-or-rent calculator works
The buy-or-rent calculator compares two paths over a long period: buying a property with financing, and renting while investing the free capital. It uses the same purchase-cost and annuity logic as the existing property calculators.
Result: With a high rent and rising rents, the buy option usually reaches the net-worth advantage earlier; the break-even is shown as a year.
Notes
Common mistakes
Purchase costs ignored
Only the purchase price is considered.
Real estate transfer tax, broker and notary significantly increase the capital requirement.
Equity of the rent option not invested
The free capital of the rent option earns no interest.
Include the investment of the equity, otherwise the comparison is unfair.
Only one scenario calculated
A single combination of assumptions is understood as certain.
Run through several scenarios with different interest rates and returns.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does the buy-or-rent calculator compare?
It contrasts the long-term spending and the final net worth of buying and renting and shows from which year the buy option is ahead in net worth.
Does the calculator use the existing purchase and financing logic?
Yes. It uses the same real-estate-transfer-tax reference and the shared annuity and amortisation-schedule library as the existing purchase-cost and property-financing calculators. There is no parallel formula.
How are the purchase costs calculated?
Real estate transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) at the central rate of the chosen federal state plus broker and notary/land-registry costs from your percentage assumptions - identical to the purchase-cost calculator.
How is the net worth of the buy option determined?
From the estimated property value at the end minus the remaining debt. The remaining debt comes from the shared amortisation schedule.
How is the rent option modelled?
Equity and purchase costs are invested. In addition, the difference between the owner burden and the rent is invested each year at the entered return.
What does the break-even mean?
The first year in the period considered in which the net worth of the buy option reaches or exceeds that of the rent option. If it is not reached, the calculator states so.
Why is appreciation a separate scenario?
Because future property and capital-market returns are uncertain. The appreciation is a transparent assumption, not a guaranteed value.
Are taxes taken into account?
No. Taxes, depreciation and individual subsidies are deliberately not simulated in a blanket way, because they depend heavily on the individual case.
Why is the equity of the rent option earning interest?
Anyone who rents can invest the equity that is not tied up. This opportunity makes the comparison fair; the return is an assumption.
How strongly does the result depend on the assumptions?
Very strongly. Interest, appreciation, rent increase and investment return change the result significantly. Run through several scenarios.
Does the calculator replace advice?
No. It is decision orientation and not investment, tax or financing advice.
Limits
Limitations
Result strongly dependent on assumptions about interest, appreciation, rent increase and investment return.
Taxes, depreciation and individual subsidies are not simulated in a blanket way.
No investment, tax or financing advice; only decision orientation.
Sources
Sources and references
§ 1 GrEStG – GrunderwerbsteuerBundesministerium der Justiz / Bundesamt für Justiz
Official basis of the real estate transfer tax, whose state rates the calculator takes from the central reference.
View sourceRetrieved: 08/03/2026 · Verified on: 08/03/2026 · Primary source
§ 556 BGB – Vereinbarungen über BetriebskostenBundesministerium der Justiz / Bundesamt für Justiz
Official basis for allocating operating and service charges in residential tenancies.
View sourceRetrieved: 08/03/2026 · Verified on: 08/03/2026 · Primary source
Immobilienfinanzierung – VerbraucherinformationBundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin)
Official consumer information on property financing, interest and repayment.
View sourceRetrieved: 08/03/2026 · Verified on: 08/03/2026 · Primary source
Compare final wealth rather than payment against rent: assess property value, remaining debt, costs and alternative investing together.
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