Compare Rent vs buy scenarios
Change one input, hold everything else identical, and see how much that one input is actually worth. The gap between the scenarios is the whole answer.
What to compare
Everything else below is held identical across the scenarios, so the only thing separating the lines is this one input.
Shared by every scenario
The rest is borrowed. If you rent instead, this is the money you invest.
Per year, and it can be negative. This is the assumption the answer is most sensitive to.
What the down payment and any monthly saving earn if you rent instead of buying.
A percentage of the property price each year. Costs an owner carries and a tenant does not.
Side by side
| Scenario | How long you stay | Buying, against renting |
|---|---|---|
| Scenario A | 10 years | -₹15,08,921 |
| Scenario B | 20 years | -₹65,79,293 |
| Scenario C | 30 years | -₹2,83,51,656 |
Moving how long you stay from 10 years to 30 years changes buying, against renting by −₹2,68,42,735. Every other input was identical in both.
Show how each scenario is calculatedHide the working
Scenario A — 10 years
Both paths are simulated month by month over the horizon: the loan amortises while the property appreciates, and in parallel the renter pays a rising rent and invests the down payment plus any month where the owner pays more. What is compared at the end is net worth, not monthly outgo.
Down payment
₹1,00,00,000 × 20%
= ₹20,00,000
If you rent instead, this is the money that gets invested.
Borrowed
₹1,00,00,000 − ₹20,00,000
= ₹80,00,000
Monthly EMI on that loan
over 10 years
= ₹99,189
Monthly ownership costs
₹1,00,00,000 × 1% ÷ 12
= ₹8,333
Maintenance, property tax and insurance — paid by an owner, not by a tenant.
Worth after 10 years if you buy
property value at the horizon, less the loan still outstanding
= ₹1,79,08,477
Worth after 10 years if you rent and invest
the down payment and every monthly saving, compounded
= ₹1,94,17,398
Buying, against renting
₹1,79,08,477 − ₹1,94,17,398
= -₹15,08,921
Buying does not get ahead within this horizon, at these assumptions.
Scenario B — 20 years
Both paths are simulated month by month over the horizon: the loan amortises while the property appreciates, and in parallel the renter pays a rising rent and invests the down payment plus any month where the owner pays more. What is compared at the end is net worth, not monthly outgo.
Down payment
₹1,00,00,000 × 20%
= ₹20,00,000
If you rent instead, this is the money that gets invested.
Borrowed
₹1,00,00,000 − ₹20,00,000
= ₹80,00,000
Monthly EMI on that loan
over 20 years
= ₹69,426
Monthly ownership costs
₹1,00,00,000 × 1% ÷ 12
= ₹8,333
Maintenance, property tax and insurance — paid by an owner, not by a tenant.
Worth after 20 years if you buy
property value at the horizon, less the loan still outstanding
= ₹3,20,71,355
Worth after 20 years if you rent and invest
the down payment and every monthly saving, compounded
= ₹3,86,50,648
Buying, against renting
₹3,20,71,355 − ₹3,86,50,648
= -₹65,79,293
Buying does not get ahead within this horizon, at these assumptions.
Scenario C — 30 years
Both paths are simulated month by month over the horizon: the loan amortises while the property appreciates, and in parallel the renter pays a rising rent and invests the down payment plus any month where the owner pays more. What is compared at the end is net worth, not monthly outgo.
Down payment
₹1,00,00,000 × 20%
= ₹20,00,000
If you rent instead, this is the money that gets invested.
Borrowed
₹1,00,00,000 − ₹20,00,000
= ₹80,00,000
Monthly EMI on that loan
over 30 years
= ₹61,513
Monthly ownership costs
₹1,00,00,000 × 1% ÷ 12
= ₹8,333
Maintenance, property tax and insurance — paid by an owner, not by a tenant.
Worth after 30 years if you buy
property value at the horizon, less the loan still outstanding
= ₹5,74,34,912
Worth after 30 years if you rent and invest
the down payment and every monthly saving, compounded
= ₹8,57,86,568
Buying, against renting
₹5,74,34,912 − ₹8,57,86,568
= -₹2,83,51,656
Buying does not get ahead within this horizon, at these assumptions.
Every scenario is computed by the same engine the buying, against renting calculator uses, so the last line of each is the figure in the table above. Intermediate values are shown rounded for reading; the calculation carries full precision throughout.
Over time
Each line is one scenario. Because every other input is identical, the gap between them is the effect of how long you stay alone.
How to read this
- Only one input differs. Every other value is identical across the scenarios, which is what makes the gap between them readable. If each scenario had its own assumed return, the chart would be comparing guesses rather than choices.
- A bigger number is not automatically better. On a loan comparison the larger figure is the worse one, and on any of these the right answer depends on circumstances this page knows nothing about.
- The rate is still an assumption. Comparing scenarios does not make any of them a forecast — it only shows how sensitive the outcome is to the input you changed.
To see the arithmetic behind a single scenario, use the Rent vs Buy Calculator, which shows the formula and works it through with your numbers.