Rent vs Mortgage

Renting is not money down the drain, and buying is not automatically an investment. Compare both over the years you actually plan to stay.

After 10 years

Renting leaves you €51 better off

Buying does not pull ahead within this period.

If you buy

-€3,642

€190,662 of equity, less €10,079 to sell

If you rent

-€3,591

€123,810 paid in rent, plus €14,341 earned on spare cash

Net position is what you own minus the cash you have paid out along the way. The renter invests both the deposit a buyer would have tied up and the monthly difference between renting and owning; the buyer's equity is shown after the cost of selling.

Net position, year by year

What you own minus what you have paid out. Where the lines cross is the year buying starts to win.

Buying
Renting

Estimates only, for guidance. The result swings heavily on property growth, rent growth and investment return — treat those three as guesses, not forecasts, and try a pessimistic set before deciding anything.

Rent vs Mortgage

Your numbers