Free Tool
Buy Now or Wait? Two Futures, Same End Date
Two futures, simulated month by month to the same end date: buy today and start building equity, or rent, keep saving, and buy at tomorrow’s price and rate. No prediction — just your assumptions, run honestly.
Projected 10-year net worth, your assumptions
Waiting 2 years projects $15,476 ahead of buying now.
Break-even: waiting wins only if the rate when you buy is 6.6% or higher (you assumed 6.25%).
Buy now
at $500,000 · 6.75%
Net worth in 10 yrs$397,423
Monthly payment$2,821
Down payment$65,000
Wait, buy later
at ~$530,450 · 6.25%
Net worth in 10 yrs$412,899
Monthly payment$2,674
Down payment$96,180
What owning costs in this simulation
Both futures are charged the same blended 1.9%/yr of home value — 1.1% property tax + 0.3% insurance + 0.5% maintenance — plus 3% closing costs at purchase and 6% selling costs on exit. Two of those differ from the site-wide defaults the other tools use (0.35% insurance, 1% maintenance): this tool runs a blend rather than separate line items. Because the identical blend is charged to buying and to waiting, it very largely cancels out of the gap above — but it is not the same number, so we say so rather than let two tools quote you different figures in silence. The per-line version is in the true cost calculator.
How sure can you be? The future rate is a guess
at 5.25%: wait +$58,627
at 6.25%: wait +$15,476
at 7.25%: now +$28,436
If one percentage point flips the answer, the honest conclusion is “close call” — not a prediction.
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This assumed you buy — the bigger question is whether you should
The full analysis runs rent-vs-buy month by month with taxes, selling costs, and your investment alternative — the decision underneath this one.
Run the full rent-vs-buy analysis