Rechnerpilot Calculator

Buy-or-rent calculator

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

Kaufvariante

Purchase price

EUR

Federal state of the property

Broker commission (buyer's share)i

Nur den vereinbarten Käuferanteil.

Notary and land-registry costsi

Anpassbare Planungsannahme.

Equity

EUR

Borrowing rate per year

Initial repayment per year

Ongoing owner costs per yeari

EUR

Instandhaltung und Hausgeld ohne umlagefähige Kosten.

Annual appreciationi

Annahme; künftige Werte sind unsicher.

Mietvariante

Comparison rent (base) per month

EUR

Annual rent increase

Investment return of the rent optioni

Rendite für angelegtes Eigenkapital und Ersparnisse.

Zeitraum

Period considered

Jahre

Load example

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.

Buy option

Financing requirementKaufpreis + Kaufnebenkosten − Eigenkapital

Purchase costs from the central real-estate-transfer-tax reference and percentage assumptions.

Net worth when buyingImmobilienwert am Ende − Restschuld

Remaining debt from the shared amortisation schedule.

Rent option

Net worth when rentingverzinstes Eigenkapital + verzinste jährliche Ersparnis

The saving is the difference between the owner burden and the rent.

Practice

Practical examples

Owner-occupied flat versus renting over 15 years

Purchase price EUR 400,000, North Rhine-Westphalia, 3.57 % broker, 2 % notary/land registry, EUR 100,000 equity, 4 % borrowing rate, 2 % repayment, EUR 3,600 owner costs/year, 2 % appreciation; comparison rent EUR 1,300 base, 2 % rent increase, 4 % investment return, 15 years.

Result: The calculator contrasts the net worth and spending of both paths and shows from which year the buy option is ahead in net worth.

High rent, moderate purchase price

Purchase price EUR 300,000, Bavaria, 3.57 % broker, 2 % notary, EUR 60,000 equity, 3.8 % borrowing rate, 2.5 % repayment, EUR 3,000 owner costs, 2.5 % appreciation; comparison rent EUR 1,250 base, 3 % rent increase, 4 % investment return, 20 years.

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 source
§ 556 BGB – Vereinbarungen über BetriebskostenBundesministerium der Justiz / Bundesamt für Justiz
Official basis for allocating operating and service charges in residential tenancies.
View source
Immobilienfinanzierung – VerbraucherinformationBundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin)
Official consumer information on property financing, interest and repayment.
View source

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