NYC Buy vs. Rent Calculator
Calculating...
The Basics
Financing Details
Homeownership Costs
Advanced Assumptions
Rent
Buy
Years
Initial Costs
Rent
Mortgage Interest Payments
Property Taxes
Common Charges / Maintenance
Repairs
Homeowners Insurance
Tax Benefits
Opportunity Cost of Initial Costs
Opportunity Cost of Recurring Costs
Net Proceeds
Total
The Basics
Financing Details
Homeownership Costs
Advanced Assumptions
Rent
Buy
Years
Initial Costs
Rent
Mortgage Interest Payments
Property Taxes
Common Charges / Maintenance
Repairs
Homeowners Insurance
Tax Benefits
Opportunity Cost of Initial Costs
Opportunity Cost of Recurring Costs
Net Proceeds
Total
How to Use Hauseit's NYC Buy vs. Rent Calculator
Annual Income
Enter your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).
Mortgage
The buy vs. rent calculator assumes a 30 year, fixed-rate mortgage.
Refinancing
Hauseit’s NYC buy vs. rent calculator assumes refinancing costs equal to 1% of the outstanding principal at the time of refinancing, which are added to the new loan balance.
Property Taxes
Enter the amount you will pay each year in property taxes. Enter 0% if you’re buying a co-op, as property taxes are included in co-op monthly maintenance. Increases over time based on home price growth rate.
Common Charges / Maintenance
Enter monthly common charges (condo) or monthly maintenance (co-op). Increases over time based on inflation.
Co-op Maintenance Tax Deductibility
Input the percentage of co-op monthly maintenance that is tax deductible. Enter 0% if you’re buying a condo.
Repairs
Enter the annual amount you will spend maintaining, repairing or renovating your home as a percentage of the purchase price. Increases over time based on inflation.
Homeowners Insurance
Enter your annual homeowners insurance premium as a percentage of the purchase price. Increases over time based on inflation.
NYC Buyer Closing Costs
Buyer closing costs in NYC are approximately 4% for condos and houses, 2% for co-ops and 6% or more for new developments, assuming you are financing. Closing costs may be lower for an all-cash purchase. Estimate your buyer closing costs in NYC with Hauseit’s interactive calculator.
Save up to 2% on your purchase with a buyer agent commission rebate from Hauseit. Learn more.
NYC Seller Closing Costs
Seller closing costs in NYC are between 8% to 10% of the sale price. Closing costs include a traditional 6% broker fee, combined NYC & NYS Transfer Taxes of 1.4% to 2.075%, legal fees, a building flip tax if applicable as well as building and miscellaneous fees.
Save up to 6% in broker commission when you sell with Hauseit in NYC.
Investment Return Rate
Annual rate of return on money that can be invested.
Other Itemized Deductions
Enter any additional itemized deductions you would claim besides the home-related ones already included in this calculator (mortgage interest and property taxes), such as charitable contributions.
NYC Buy vs. Rent Calculator Methodology
Hauseit’s NYC buy vs. rent calculator compares the true financial cost of renting and buying by breaking both scenarios into six components: Initial Costs, Recurring Costs, Tax Benefits, Opportunity Cost of Initial Costs, Opportunity Cost of Recurring Costs, and Net Proceeds. The model computes each component for both renting and buying, aggregates the totals, and then measures the difference between the two paths over your selected holding period.
Initial Costs
The buy vs. rent calculator assumes an initial one-month security deposit for NYC rentals, reflecting the maximum allowed under New York law. For buying, the model treats initial costs as the sum of your down payment and buyer closing costs.
Recurring Costs
Recurring costs for buying consist of mortgage interest payments, property taxes, common charges or maintenance, repairs, and homeowner’s insurance. For renting, recurring costs consist solely of rent.
Tax Benefits
The buy vs. rent calculator compares your tax benefits if you do not buy real estate versus if you do buy. The difference between those two tax benefits is multiplied by your marginal tax rate to calculate your tax savings.
If you purchase real estate, your deductible housing expenses consist of two components: your mortgage interest deduction (subject to the federal mortgage interest cap) and your property taxes plus any deductible portion of your co-op monthly maintenance. These amounts sit alongside any other itemized deductions you enter in the model. The model then compares this total itemized amount to the standard deduction and uses whichever is larger.
Each year, the model checks the applicable SALT (state and local tax) deduction limit. For tax years 2025 through 2029, that limit can be as high as $40,000 depending on your income. The SALT cap applies to state and city income taxes, property taxes, and any tax-deductible portion of co-op monthly maintenance.
If you do not purchase, the model applies the same logic: it compares the standard deduction to your itemized deductions, which include SALT and any other itemized deductions you enter in the model. Again, it uses whichever is larger.
Opportunity Cost of Initial Costs
The “Opportunity Cost of Initial Costs” shows how much investment growth you give up by tying cash up in housing upfront instead of investing it at your chosen investment return rate over the full holding period.
For renting, the model treats your one-month security deposit as cash that could have been invested; the opportunity cost is the compounded growth on that deposit over your holding period.
For buying, the model treats your entire upfront outlay – your down payment plus buyer closing costs – as cash that could have been invested; the opportunity cost is the compounded growth on that combined amount over the same holding period.
Opportunity Cost of Recurring Costs
“Opportunity Cost of Recurring Costs” measures the investment growth you give up by using your money each year to pay housing expenses instead of investing it at your selected investment return rate.
For renting, the model calculates how much each year’s rent payment would have grown by the end of your holding period if invested instead.
For buying, the same approach is applied to all recurring homeowner costs – mortgage interest, property taxes, common charges or co-op maintenance, repairs, and homeowners insurance – by projecting what each year’s out-of-pocket amount would have grown to over the remaining years.
Tax benefits, where applicable, are modeled separately by projecting the investment growth of each year’s tax savings over the remaining years, reflecting the opportunity cost benefit of being able to invest those cash inflows.
The model assumes payments (and tax benefits) are realized at the end of each year in a lump sum, and opportunity cost compounding starts at beginning of following year.
Net Proceeds
“Net Sale Proceeds” represents the cash you recover at the end of your holding period. For renting, it is simply the return of your one-month security deposit. For buying, the model first projects your sale price using your annual home-price growth assumption over the full holding period. From that projected sale price, the model subtracts seller closing costs and your remaining loan balance, and then adjusts for any capital gains tax owed. Capital gains tax is calculated as your sale price after seller closing costs, minus your cost basis (your purchase price plus buyer closing costs).
Learn More
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