This India rent vs buy calculator compares renting against buying a home over the number of years you actually plan to stay. It captures the costs unique to Indian property — high stamp duty and registration, front-loaded home loan interest, and ongoing maintenance — against rising rent and the return you could earn by investing your deposit instead.
How it works
For the buy path the model tracks your outlay: the down payment, monthly home loan EMIs, one-off stamp duty and registration, and annual maintenance. At the end of the horizon it adds back the property’s value grown at your appreciation rate, minus any loan balance still outstanding, to give a net position.
For the rent path it sums rent that grows each year, and grows your deposit (plus any monthly cash you save by renting instead of paying a bigger EMI) at your chosen investment return. The path with the higher ending net worth wins, and the gap tells you how decisive the choice is.
The core comparison is:
buy net = appreciated value − loan owed − (deposit + interest + duty + maintenance) rent net = grown investments − total rent paid
Example
On a ₹50,00,000 flat with a ₹10,00,000 down payment, a home loan at 9% over 20 years, 6% stamp duty plus 1% registration, and 4% maintenance growth, staying 5 years with rent of ₹18,000/month growing 6% a year and a 9% investment return, renting often comes out ahead — the ₹3.5 lakh of duty and the heavy early interest are not yet offset by appreciation. Extend the stay to 10+ years and buying usually overtakes.
Notes
The result is highly sensitive to the appreciation rate and investment return — change them and re-check the breakeven. Home loan tax benefits under Sections 24 and 80C improve the buy case and are not modelled here; estimate them separately. This is an educational tool, not financial advice.