Rent-versus-buy model
Compares ownership with renting and investing the down payment and monthly savings instead.
HomeFitWeb calculators · ChatGPT plugin
Rent × invest × buy
Explore the numbers behind your next home decision.
Compare buying a home with renting and investing the difference. Use the web calculators to inspect the numbers, or explore a buy-versus-rent scenario with HomeFit in ChatGPT.
What it really does
See what changes when your housing assumptions change.
The web calculator estimates a same-spend price, where first-year owner spending is close to your current housing cost, and a wealth-neutral price, where buying and renting plus investing finish approximately even. An illustrative price buffer sits below the wealth-neutral estimate. Change the assumptions and compare a real listing price to understand the trade-offs.
Already own a home? The Sell & rent web calculator compares keeping it with selling, renting, and investing the proceeds.
The buy-or-rent web calculator
Start with your life, then test the house.
- 01
Build your baseline
Enter a city or ZIP code, current rent and fees, down payment, mortgage rate, and how long you expect to stay.
- 02
Tune the assumptions
Adjust home growth, portfolio return, property tax, maintenance, insurance, utilities, HOA, and rent growth.
- 03
Review the price estimates
Compare the same-spend and wealth-neutral prices. The illustrative price buffer shows a range below the wealth-neutral estimate; choose your own allowance for repairs and uncertainty.
- 04
Test a real asking price
Enter a candidate listing price to compare first-year cash flow, upfront cash, principal built, and the modeled wealth difference.
HomeFit in ChatGPT
Explore a buy-versus-rent scenario in conversation.
Search for HomeFit: Rent vs Buy in the ChatGPT plugin directory. Look for the listing by Akshay Arvind Zimare with homefit.zimarelabs.com as its website. Add it to your chat, then share the home price, monthly rent, down payment, and how long you expect to stay. You can adjust the assumptions and compare the results.
Example prompt
Use HomeFit to compare buying a $600,000 home with renting for $3,000 a month, with 20% down over 10 years. Ask me for any other assumptions you need.
Review the inputs before interpreting the result. The ChatGPT plugin covers buying versus renting; the separate Sell & rent calculator is available on the HomeFit website.
Open ChatGPTThe ChatGPT plugin is currently published for the United States.
The useful parts
A housing model you can inspect and adjust.
For renters considering a purchase and homeowners comparing whether to keep their home or sell and rent.
Whole-balance-sheet view
Keeps monthly affordability and long-term invested wealth in the same comparison.
Assumptions you control
Replace planning defaults with the mortgage, tax, return, maintenance, and time-horizon assumptions you believe.
Leverage made visible
Shows how gains or losses on the full home value interact with debt, costs, principal paydown, and invested alternatives.
Sell and rent comparison
Homeowners can use the separate web calculator to compare keeping their home with selling, renting, and investing the proceeds.
Buy or rent in ChatGPT
Use the HomeFit plugin in ChatGPT to explore a buy-versus-rent scenario and discuss how changes to the assumptions affect the result.
Home-matching interest
Register interest in Greater Boston property reports through the website. Listing coverage is launching; check HomeFit for current availability and plan details.
The honest limit
A planning model, not a preapproval or prediction.
HomeFit provides educational estimates, not financial, tax, legal, mortgage, appraisal, or investment advice. Use the actual tax bill, insurance quote, HOA documents, inspection findings, and lender terms before making an offer.
Use both sides of the balance sheet