Buy a home. Or keep renting.

Put both paths on equal footing. Explore the mortgage, the money you could invest, and the years you plan to stay.

Free to explore. No account needed. Calculations run in your browser.

Wealth tied to this decision

Solid line: buy · Dashed line: rent

See year-by-year numbers

Keep the whole picture in view.

Keep this comparison next to your cinder.fi plan. Your inputs and both options stay with it, ready to review as you plan.

Compare equal resources

The renter starts by investing the cash the buyer would use for the down payment and upfront costs. Each month, both paths receive the same housing-and-investing budget: the larger of the two housing costs. The cheaper path invests the difference, including the buyer after the mortgage is paid off. This isolates the decision; it does not establish that either monthly budget is affordable for your household.

Buying wealth is the home’s value, less the remaining mortgage and assumed selling costs, plus invested monthly savings. Renting wealth is the invested upfront cash plus invested monthly savings. Mortgage principal becomes equity rather than disappearing as an expense.

Make the assumptions yours

Enter property tax and maintenance as annual percentages of the changing home value. Monthly owner costs cover insurance, condo or association fees, and utilities that differ from renting. Include renter insurance in your rent figure. Upfront costs should include applicable land-transfer taxes, legal fees, inspections, moving expenses, and mortgage insurance paid in cash. This tool does not automatically calculate these costs or test mortgage eligibility.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s home-purchase worksheet helps identify costs to include. Check your lender’s actual terms; fixed and variable mortgage conventions can differ.

Investment returns should be after investment taxes and fees. Home-sale taxes, tax deductions, rebates, rent-control limits and mortgage prepayment penalties are not calculated. All outputs use future nominal dollars. The sensitivity table varies investment returns only; also change appreciation and rent growth to explore the assumptions that matter to you.

Bring the decision into your retirement planning

The continuation button keeps both alternatives and every assumption in a local comparison beside your cinder.fi plan. Reopen it whenever you want to adjust the numbers. It does not yet create retirement projection scenarios: incorporating the purchase into your full plan also requires identifying the down-payment accounts, current housing budget and household tax situation.

This is an educational comparison of specified cash flows, not a home appraisal, mortgage quote, or forecast of investment returns.

September 19, 2026 · 1 min read

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Frequently asked questions

›Does the renter invest the down payment?

Yes. Renting starts with the down payment and upfront buying costs invested. Each month, whichever option costs less invests the difference. Buying includes home equity after mortgage debt and selling costs.

›Does this model Canadian mortgage renewal?

Yes. At the first rate-change date, payments are recalculated using the outstanding balance and remaining amortization. The new rate then stays constant. Canada uses semi-annual compounding; the US option uses monthly compounding.

›Is the first year buying is ahead a guaranteed break-even point?

No. It is the first annual observation where buying wealth is at least renting wealth under your assumptions. The paths can cross again. Inspect the chart and try different growth assumptions.