Rent or Buy Calculator.

Rent or Buy Mortgage Calculator

This calculator will help you to compare the costs of renting to the costs of buying a home. Since there are all kinds of forces at work behind the scenes (interest, property taxes, tax savings, appreciation, opportunity costs, closing costs, selling costs, etc.), comparing the cost of renting to the cost of buying is a lot more complicated than just comparing the monthly mortgage payment to the monthly rent payment. This calculator attempts to forecast the net effects of all the hidden forces so you can make an informed decision.

For your convenience current Seattle mortgage rates are published below.

Rental Property Amount
Monthly rent ($):
Monthly rental insurance ($):
Expected annual inflation rate (%):
Home Price & Downpayment Amount
Purchase price of home ($):
Down payment amount ($):
Loan amount ($):
Home Loan Structure Terms
Mortgage term (years):
Annual interest rate (APR %) GET TODAY'S RATE:
Property Mortgage Insurance (PMI %):
Mortgage Closing Costs Amount
Discount points on purchase of home (%):
Origination fees (%):
Other closing costs ($):
Homeownership Expenses Amount
Annual homeowner's insurance ($):
Monthly association dues ($):
Average monthly maintenance ($):
Annual property tax ($):
Income Taxes & Home Appreciation Amount
State plus Federal income tax rate (%):
Interest rate you expect to earn on savings (%):
Home price annual appreciation (%):
Years you will stay at this property:
Realtor commission rate (%):
Rent or Buy Comparison Amount
Total estimated cost of renting:
Total estimated cost of buying:
Total estimated savings:

Current Seattle Mortgage Rates

We publish current Seattle mortgage rates. WA homebuyers and refinancers can use the filters at the top of the table to see the monthly payments and rates availble for their loans.

Should I Rent or Buy? Trust the Numbers

Investing in Real Estate.

It can be a major challenge for bill payers to be able to think in the long term about the reasoning behind their monthly monetary output. For many, it is simply a reactionary event: the bill comes, and you automatically pay it, unless it is automated to withdraw each month from your bank account or credit card. However, long term thinking can pay off. One of the most obvious ways we can see the effects of big picture planning like this is in the case of renting versus home ownership. There are several scenarios in which home ownership can absolutely save you a bundle as compared to the cost of rent. Those who plan to be in a particular city or area indefinitely are almost always going to benefit from investing in a home rather than paying large monthly sums for something that will never pay itself off. Of course, your particular situation – including location, current financial situation, expected mortgage, credit score, and average rent payments – is needed to make a prudent decision on whether you are better off in your rental or involved in paying off the mortgage in a building with your name on it.

The Case for Home Ownership: By the Numbers

Since the economy dip of the mid 2000s, there have been a thousand and one new and exciting incentives for prospective home owners to go ahead and take the plunge of purchasing a home residence. Targeted towards both first time home owners and those who are on their second or third house, these governmental and privately originated home buying initiatives have run the gamut from the $8000 new home owner rebate under the Obama administration to drastically low annual interest rates by popular brokers. But all will agree that there is no better and simpler incentive than the simple cash difference that residents will save when comparing a purchasing versus renting scenario.

This difference is a combination of affecting factors such as purchase price, monthly rent, down payment, amount of time you expect to stay at your new home, and loan and tax rate details. The figure that tells the whole story with one number is quite complicated to devise, as it ends up being a product of so many variables, but this calculator is formulated to do it for you when given the appropriate information. The tool will reduce the data into two simple numbers: the total cost you will pay to rent and the full cost you will pay to own the home in question. If you need to see the nitty gritty of the smaller and more detailed numbers in between these deal breakers, you have the option to access a report with these data as well.

Though the initial financial commitment, hassle of the loan, and intimidating terms of a mortgage may seem daunting to first time buyers, the amount of money home owners will save in the long term is often a significant amount of your income that is essentially thrown away by renting. Financially, renting is most sensibly an option only if the residents are not fully committed to a particular location, if they are currently enjoying a bargain basement monthly price, or if they lack the funds to make a small down payment on a home.

Prequalify for a Seattle Mortgage

Homebuyers and current homeowers living in Seattle can leverage the MRC lending network to find out which loans they will qualify for and get a free no-obligation quote on a Seattle home purchase or refinance.