House Rent or Buy Calculator

[araugustine]

Dear Chandoo,

I liked the rent or buy calculator; at the same time I was not able to quickly infer from the NPV which is best - rent or buy. I added a quick summary (rent paid, interest paid, value appreciation of property & opportunity lost on down payment) and arrived at net gain.
It looks like the net gain will be positive for most of the combinations, except for shorter period.
Can you please review and give your comments?

 

[Hui]

Don't worry about NPV,
Do you want to pay for somebody else's house or your own?

Buying your own house is forced saving in your future
Paying rent is forced saving for somebody else's future