Central Florida Rent vs Buy Calculator
Renting is cheaper in most of Orlando right now. Set three numbers and see if buying catches up, and when.
Not sure what to put here? See what fits your income
What you pay now, each month.
Move it if you have a quote.
Common on condos and townhomes.
Annual, as a percent of value.
Roof age moves this most.
These four change with your quote, your county, your roof, and your neighborhood, so move them if you know better. Everything else the model uses is fixed, and listed under the results.
Buying wins quickly
Buying pulls ahead after 4 years, 5 months
Stay longer than that and buying wins. Move sooner and renting was the better call.
- Cost to own, monthly
- $3,509
- Compared to your rent
- $509 more
- Cash to start
- $22,800
Same payment, less house: $3,000 a month would carry a $324,858 home, under the price you set.
That gap is more than a quarter of your rent. See the price your income supports.
You know the year. Now find out if you're ready for it.
This page compares two ways to pay for housing. The 3-minute quiz shows where you actually stand as a buyer and the exact next step from here.
Take the 3-Minute QuizWhat You Would Hold
Both paths spend the same amount every month. The buyer puts it into a home. The renter pays rent and invests the rest. This is what each one is worth along the way, after the costs of selling.
Read it as: if you walked away in that year, this is what each path leaves you holding.
| Year | Difference | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -$4,392 | $29,827 | -$34,219 |
| 3 | $26,623 | $42,446 | -$15,822 |
| 5 (breakeven year) | $60,232 | $52,807 | +$7,426 |
| 7 | $96,690 | $60,449 | +$36,240 |
| 10 | $161,681 | $69,984 | +$91,697 |
The Buying Column
What you would walk away with if you sold the home that year: what it is worth by then, minus what you still owe, minus about 8% for the cost of selling.
In the years when your rent would have cost more than owning, the difference is invested and counted here too.
The Renting Column
What your savings would be worth that year if you kept renting: the down payment and closing costs you never spent, plus every dollar owning would have cost you above your rent, all growing at 5% a year.
It assumes you actually invest that difference every month. Most renters do not, and if you would not, buying pulls ahead sooner than this shows.
Owning this home runs $509 more a month than your rent right now.
By year 5, buying leaves you holding $60,232 once the cost of selling comes out. Renting and investing the difference leaves you $52,807.
That is $7,426 in favor of buying. Move before year 5 and renting was the better call, because selling costs about 8% of what the home sells for.
Where That Money Goes
Month one. Tax, insurance, and maintenance climb as the home gains value.
- Principal & Interest (6.5%)
- $2,330
- Property Tax (1.1%)
- $348
- Homeowners Insurance (0.8%)
- $253
- $261
- HOA
- $0
- (1%)
- $317
- Total
- $3,509
These numbers describe a conventional loan. FHA is a different animal: its mortgage insurance usually lasts the life of the loan instead of falling away, so an FHA payment runs higher than what you see here. Read the mortgage guide
Mortgage Insurance (PMI)
An extra monthly charge that applies when you put down less than 20%. It protects the lender, not you. This tool assumes 0.85% at 3% down and 0.6% at 5%; your real rate depends on your credit score and can run higher.
It is not forever. It stops once you owe less than 80% of what you paid for the home, which this page works out for you from your down payment and the years of payments after it.
That rule is the conventional one. FHA loans carry their own version that usually lasts the life of the loan, and this page does not model it.
Maintenance Reserve
1% of the home's value a year, set aside. It is not a bill that arrives. It is what a roof, an AC, and a water heater average out to over time in Florida.
Some months you spend nothing. Then a roof costs $18,000. Leaving this line out is the most common way a rent versus buy comparison flatters buying.
How This Number Is Built
These are not sliders on purpose. The two that move the answer most are appreciation and maintenance, and a slider on those would just let anyone dial in the answer they wanted.
- Maintenance: 1% of the home's value a year
- Roof, AC, water heater, and everything else, averaged out. The common rules of thumb run 1% to 1.5% a year.
- Home Appreciation: 3% a year
- A conservative long-run figure, and the number this answer is most sensitive to. It is a forecast, not a promise.
- Rent Growth: 3% a year
- What your rent does while you wait.
- Investment Return: 5% a year
- What the renter earns on the down payment they did not spend, plus every dollar they save each month.
- Cost to Sell: 8% of what it sells for
- Charged once, whenever you sell. It is why buying takes time to pay off.
- Cash to Close: 3% of the price
- On top of the down payment.
- Loan: 30-year fixed
- This tool assumes 0.85% at 3% down and 0.6% at 5% (your real rate depends on your credit score and can run higher), and stops once you owe less than 80% of what you paid.
- Tax deductions. Most first-time buyers here take the standard deduction, and Florida has no state income tax, so the write-off is usually worth nothing. If you do itemize, buying looks slightly better than this page shows.
- Utilities, on either side. Owning normally runs higher: more space to cool, plus water, sewer, and trash that a lot of rentals bundle in. So the buying side here is a little optimistic.
- FHA loans. This page prices a conventional loan, the same three down payments the affordability calculator uses. FHA is a common first-time-buyer option, but its mortgage insurance usually lasts the life of the loan instead of falling away at 20% equity, so an FHA payment runs higher than this and breakeven lands later. The 2026 mortgage guide post covers it.
- A renter who invests every dollar. This assumes you invest the full difference, every single month, without fail. Almost nobody does. If that is not you, buying pulls ahead sooner than the year above.
- Renters insurance, moving costs, and special assessments. Small next to the rest, and left out on both sides.
Questions
Because right now it usually is, month to month. Owning the same home in Central Florida runs several hundred dollars more once you count taxes, insurance, and upkeep. Buying wins later, through equity and through rent going up while your payment does not.
No. This compares two ways to house yourself. It says nothing about whether you qualify. A lender reviews your credit, income, and the specific home, and that is the number you shop with.
Because ignoring it would stack the deck. A renter who does not buy has the down payment free to invest, plus whatever they save each month. Leaving that out is how a rent versus buy tool quietly turns into a marketing brochure.
Then renting was the better financial call. Selling costs about 8% of what the home sells for, so a short stay rarely earns that back. That is the single most useful thing this page can tell you.
Every number here is an estimate built on the assumptions above, not a prediction and not an offer. Home values, rents, and returns all move.
Prefer to talk to a person?
Leave your info and I'll reach out. A page cannot tell you how long you plan to stay, whether the roof is new, or what a landlord is about to do with your rent. That is what a conversation is for.