Rent vs. Buy

Should you rent or should you buy your home? It takes more than looking at your mortgage payment to answer this question. This calculator helps you weed through the fees, taxes, and monthly payments to help you make a good financial decision.


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Definitions

Price of home
Purchase price of the home you wish to buy.

Cash on hand
Cash you have for the down payment and closing costs.

Interest rate
The current interest rate you can receive on your mortgage.

Amortization in years
The number of years over which you will repay this mortgage.

Property tax amount
The annual amount you pay in property taxes.

Mortgage fees
Fees your financial institution charges for originating your mortgage.

Other closing costs
Estimate of all other closing costs for this loan. This should include filing fees, appraiser fees and any other misc. fees paid.

Total closing costs
Total up front costs to close your loan. This is the sum of the loan origination fee, amount paid for CMHC premium and other closing costs.

Mortgage amount
Total amount for this mortgage.

After-tax investment return
Annual percentage return you would retain, after income tax was paid, if you invested your closing costs and down payment instead of purchasing a home.

Monthly rent payment
Amount you currently pay for rent per month.

Expected inflation rate
Inflation rate used to adjust amounts subject to annual increases. This includes rent, insurance and tax payments.

Home appreciates at
Annual appreciation you expect in the home you are purchasing.

Future sales commission
The percent of your homes selling price you expect to pay to a broker or real estate agent when you sell your home.

CMHC Premium
Mortgage insurance is paid to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This includes all loans secured with less than 25% down and depending on your financial institution, with as much as 35% down. This calculator assumes that financial institutions will not charge any CMHC premium if you have more than a 25% downpayment. The CMHC premium is calculated as:

CMHC Insurance Premium Rates:
Loan Size
(% of property value)
Rate (as a % of loan)
Up to and including 65% (over 35% down payment)
0.5%
Up to and including 75% (25% to 34.99% down payment)
0.65%
Up to and including 80% (20% to 24.99% down payment)
1.00%
Up to and including 85% (15% to 19.99% down payment)
1.75%
Up to and including 90% (10% to 14.99% down payment)
2.00%
Up to and including 95% (5% to 9.99% down payment)
3.25%