Mieten vs. Kaufen Rechner

With a $450,000 home, 20% down, and a 6.5% mortgage, renting is often cheaper over a 5-year horizon once closing and selling costs are included. Transaction costs alone can be 7% to 10% of home value, or about $31,500 to $45,000. Buying tends to improve when you stay long enough to spread those costs over more years.

A common break-even range is 7 to 12 years for buyers with 6% to 7% mortgage rates and 3% home appreciation assumptions. For example, on a $400,000 home with 20% down and $2,100 rent alternative, break-even might occur near year 9. Faster rent growth and stronger appreciation can move break-even earlier.

At 6.5% with 20% down, principal and interest on $400,000 is about $2,530 per month before taxes and insurance. Adding 1.2% property tax and $1,500 annual insurance brings total housing cost near $3,160 per month. Using a 28% front-end ratio, that implies about $135,000 annual gross income.

A larger down payment lowers mortgage interest, but it also increases opportunity cost if that cash could earn returns elsewhere. For instance, an extra $50,000 invested at 7% grows to about $98,400 in 10 years. You should compare reduced mortgage cost against the foregone investment growth using the same timeframe.

It depends on your timeline, location, and opportunity cost. Buying includes mortgage, property tax, maintenance, and insurance; renting avoids those but rent typically rises 3–5% yearly. For most scenarios the break-even point (when buying becomes cheaper in net cost) falls between years 4 and 8. Use this calculator with your numbers to compare.

Buying usually makes sense when you plan to stay 7+ years, can afford the down payment without sacrificing emergency savings, and when local rent growth outpaces home appreciation assumptions. The break-even year depends on mortgage rate, rent level, property tax, and investment return on your down payment.