TOOLS / RENT VS BUY
Rent or buy
The break-even point, including the costs of owning that nobody puts in the brochure.
Renting
Buying
One percent a year is the usual planning figure. Older houses cost more.
When you leave
Commission, concessions, title, repairs after inspection.
Renting wins over 7 years
$14,619
On these assumptions you do not stay long enough for buying to catch up. That is a real answer, not a failure.
Over 7 years
Total rent paid$133,327
Cash in up frontDown payment plus closing costs$29,250
Total payments, taxes, insurance, upkeep$167,174
What the house is worth$276,722
Loan balance left− $183,607
Cost to sell at 8%− $22,138
Equity you walk away with$70,977
Net cost of owning$147,946
Renting saved you$14,619
The number this is most sensitive to is how long you stay. Selling costs land all at once at the end, and at 8% they take $22,138 off the top. Short stays almost never beat renting, no matter what the market does.
Appreciation is an assumption, not a forecast, and nobody on this site is predicting what East Texas prices will do. Set it to zero and see whether the decision still holds. If it only works at 5%, it is a bet, not a plan.
If you are on the fence, the honest question is not rent versus buy. It is how confident you are that you will still be in this house in five years.
This is a planning estimate, not an offer, an appraisal, a quote, or a commitment. Everything runs in your browser: no figure you type here is sent anywhere or stored. No tax benefit is modelled here, because whether you get one depends entirely on your return.