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Rent or buy? The break-even year

Comparing rent against a mortgage payment tells you almost nothing. This follows both households year by year and shows when the owner's net worth overtakes the renter's — including the purchase costs that never come back.

✓ Free, no sign-up✓ Official 2026 figures✓ Nothing is stored

If you rent

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The Kaltmiete — compare like with like, since an owner pays the service charges either way.

If you buy

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Property tax, building insurance, the non-allocable part of the Hausgeld and a maintenance reserve.

Assumptions you can change
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The renter is assumed to invest both their own funds and any month where renting costs less than owning. These three numbers drive the answer more than anything else — try moving them.

Buying pulls ahead after

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BuyingRenting
Monthly cost of owningloan payment plus owner costs–
Monthly rent today–
Purchase costs, gone on day one–
Net worth as an ownerafter 10 years–
Net worth as a renterown funds invested instead–
Loan needed
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Debt left
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Difference
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The break-even year is arithmetic. Whether you will still want to live there is not — and that is usually the more important half of the decision.

Want an offer based on these numbers? Leave your details and we will call you back with something concrete — usually the same working day.
How this is calculated
  • The comparison is net worth, not monthly cost. Comparing rent against a mortgage payment is misleading, because part of the payment buys you the property. We follow both households year by year and compare what each is worth.
  • The owner spends their own funds on purchase costs and the deposit, then pays the loan and the costs a tenant would not carry. Their wealth is the property's value less the debt still outstanding.
  • The renter keeps their own funds invested and adds every month in which renting costs less than owning. Their wealth is that pot. Where owning is cheaper in a given month, the owner invests the difference instead.
  • Purchase costs are transfer tax at your state's rate plus 2 % for notary and land registry. They are never recovered, which is the main reason ownership takes years to overtake renting.
  • Not modelled: selling costs if the owner sells, income tax on the renter's investment returns, repairs beyond the reserve you enter, rent controls, and the possibility that the loan's interest rate changes at the end of the fixed period. The result is a structured comparison, not a forecast.

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