Free calculator
Rent or buy?
The argument you are having with your parents, with the arithmetic attached. This will tell you to keep renting if that is what the numbers say.
Your situation
The single biggest factor. Stamp duty is paid on day one and takes years to earn back.
8.5% is the average across our own locality data.
Assumptions (all editable)
What the down payment would earn elsewhere. Most calculators leave this out entirely, which is why they always say buy. 7% is a fixed deposit; 12% assumes disciplined equity investing you actually stick to.
A year. 5–8% is normal here.
Of value, per year. A tenant pays none of this.
The answer
Move the sliders and this fills in.
| Buying | Renting | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid out over the period | — | — |
| Worth at the end | — | — |
| Net position | — | — |
—
A model, not a prophecy. It assumes steady growth in a market that moves in steps, and it cannot price the things that matter most — whether you want to paint the walls, or move cities in three years.
What the arithmetic misses
A job in Pune, a marriage, a parent needing care. Selling property takes months and costs money. If there is a realistic chance you move within three years, rent regardless of what this page says.
Your EMI is fixed. Rent is not — at 7% a year it doubles in ten. For a family that intends to stay, that predictability is worth more than the spreadsheet shows.
This assumes you actually invest it and leave it there. Most people do not. If it would sit in a savings account, buying looks far better than the model suggests.