Rent vs Buy
Rent or buy in Florida?
This calculator compares the real long-term cost of renting versus buying over the years you plan to stay. It accounts for your down payment, mortgage principal and interest, taxes, insurance, maintenance, rent growth, and home appreciation, so you can see where each choice actually lands on your timeline. It is an estimate, not a promise, and it is honest about what it cannot know.
Straight talk from Wiz
The honest answer first
Neither renting nor buying is universally right, and any agent who tells you otherwise is selling you something. The right answer depends on three things: how long you will stay, what the numbers say for your zip code, and where you are in life.
Buying locks in your housing cost and builds equity, but it ties up your down payment and puts you on the hook for repairs, taxes, insurance, and the cost of leaving. Renting stays flexible and keeps your cash free, but rents rise and you walk away with no equity. Stay a couple of years and renting usually wins on paper. Stay long enough for appreciation, principal paydown, and a fixed payment to do their work, and buying usually wins. “Usually” is doing real work in that sentence, which is exactly what this calculator is for: it puts your numbers, not a slogan, in charge of the verdict.
Renting is not throwing money away, and buying is not always the win. The right answer is the one your numbers and your life stage support, not the one that makes someone a commission.
Bring your actual situation, and Wiz will give you the straight answer for your town, your timeline, and your life stage. No pressure, no pitch, no obligation. That is the whole point of the free 15-minute strategy call.
Browser-only estimate
The long-term cost of each choice
Set the home and rent numbers, then choose your time horizon. The comparison updates as you type.
Owning usually gets cheaper than renting the longer you stay, because your payment stays fixed (taxes and insurance aside) while rent rises and you build equity. The magic number is the break-even year.
Net cost over your stay
Renting
$239,070
Buying
$156,945
- Monthly owning cost
- $3,498
- Down payment
- $90,000
- Home equity at the end
- $226,887
- Difference
- Buying cheaper by $82,125
On your timeline, owning comes out ahead even after costs, and you keep the home equity.
Talk Through the Trade-OffsUnder the hood, honestly
What the calculator counts (and what it can't)
Here is exactly what this tool models, and what it does not pretend to know. Treat the first list as useful. Treat the second list as essential, because the real-world costs on the right side are often what tip a decision.
What it counts
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Down payment
What you commit up front, and the equity it buys from day one.
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Mortgage principal and interest
The payment amortized over a 30-year term at the rate you set.
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Property taxes
The annual figure you enter, spread across every month you own.
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Homeowners insurance
Your annual premium, also spread across the month.
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Maintenance
Roughly 1% of the home price per year, held against the roof, the AC, and everything in between.
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Rent growth
The yearly increase you set, because rents rarely sit still for a decade.
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Home appreciation
The yearly growth you set, which drives the equity you keep at the end.
What it can't capture
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Closing costs and the cost to sell
You pay to enter a purchase and to leave it. The calculator shows equity, not the full exit bill.
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HOA and condo fees
In Florida these can run hundreds of dollars a month, on top of your mortgage payment.
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Special assessments and big-ticket repairs
A new roof, a seawall, a community levy: the items that arrive when you least expect them.
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Insurance spikes
Wind and flood premiums can jump hard between one renewal and the next.
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Moving costs and the new-furniture effect
Every move has a price tag that does not show up in the mortgage math.
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Job and life changes
A transfer, a growing family, a change in income: none of them obey a spreadsheet.
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Opportunity cost
The down payment could have been invested elsewhere. The tool treats it as equity, which is not the only way to use cash.
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The emotional value of owning
The porch, the garden, the school district, the freedom to paint the walls. Real value, and it never appears in a number.
Grounded heuristics, honestly framed
Rules of thumb Wiz actually uses
These are starting points for a conversation, not commandments. They work because they are honest about their limits, and the calculator lets you test each one against your own numbers.
- 01
The five-to-seven-year rule
Buying usually beats renting somewhere around the time you would hold the home five to seven years: long enough for a fixed payment to sit below rising rent and for equity to build. It is a rough guide, not a law. Your taxes, insurance, HOA fees, and market can move that year in either direction, so change the years in the calculator and watch your break-even move with them.
- 02
The 28 / 36 guideline
Keep housing costs at or below about 28% of gross income and total debts below 36% (per Fannie Mae underwriting guidelines). Lenders use it to size pre-approvals, and Wiz uses it to keep your life comfortable, not just your application approved. Run your own numbers in the affordability calculator below.
- 03
Price-to-rent as a lens, not a law
Compare the home price to a year of rent. When that ratio is low, buying tends to close the gap faster; when it is high, renting tends to stay cheaper longer. In Florida’s higher-cost markets the math often needs more years to close, which is exactly why your zip code matters.
When renting wins outright
The honest list. If more than one of these sounds like you, renting is likely the right call for now, and that is a plan, not a compromise.
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Short stays
If you are unlikely to be there three to five years, the fixed costs of buying rarely get time to pay off.
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Uncertainty
A contract job, a possible transfer, a family decision still up in the air: flexibility has real value.
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High-cost markets
Where prices sit high relative to rent, the break-even can stretch past a realistic commitment.
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Cash you cannot spare
If the down payment would drain your savings, renting while you rebuild is a plan, not a failure.
Florida-specific honesty
Florida math is different
Most rent-versus-buy advice was written for states without Florida's tax and insurance profile. Here, both the monthly number and the long-run number behave differently, so Wiz treats Florida like its own market, because it is.
No state income tax
Florida has no state personal income tax, so more of your income stays in your pocket every month. A real advantage, and only half the story.
Property taxes vary by county
Counties fund their budgets through property taxes, and effective rates differ noticeably across the six counties Wiz serves. The same-priced home can carry a very different bill a county away.
Wind and flood insurance are real
Homeowners insurance is not a skim line in Florida. Wind coverage has moved a lot in recent years, flood is separate for many properties, and both can jump between renewals.
Homestead exemption and Save Our Homes
File once you make the home your primary residence: it shields assessed value from tax, and Save Our Homes caps how fast that assessed value can rise each year.
The sourced math: as of 2026, Florida's homestead exemption shields the first $25,000 of assessed value from all property taxes, plus an additional $26,411 (a total of $51,411) on values above $50,000 for non-school taxes, per the Florida Department of Revenue. Once homesteaded, Save Our Homes caps how fast your assessed value can climb, at 3% per year, so future tax growth stays in check. New buyers are often reassessed near market value in year one, so the first tax bill can exceed a long-term owner's.
Your numbers, his counsel
Run the numbers with Wiz
The calculator starts the math. The call finishes it. Every comparison on this page is an estimate, and every estimate deserves a real conversation. Wiz pairs the output with real lender quotes and current tax and insurance figures for your exact zip code, then fits it to your life plan, so the number you act on is yours, not a default.
The call is free, 15 minutes, and genuinely no-pressure: you leave with a clearer plan whether you rent, buy, or wait. That is the point.
Straight answers, no fine print
Rent versus buy questions, answered
The questions buyers ask Wiz most when they are weighing renting against buying in Florida, answered the way he would on a call.
01 How long do I need to stay before buying pays off?
There is no single year that works for everyone, but buying usually overtakes renting somewhere around the five-to-seven-year mark. The real answer is your break-even, and this calculator finds it: change the years you plan to stay and watch the two totals cross. If your break-even sits beyond how long you realistically plan to stay, renting is the honest recommendation, and Wiz will tell you so on a call.
02 Do I need 20% down?
No. Many buyers put down far less with conventional or FHA financing, though a smaller down payment means a larger monthly payment and often mortgage insurance. Twenty percent avoids that extra cost and lowers your payment, but it is a target, not a requirement. Wiz pairs your cash position with lenders he trusts to find the program that fits your plan.
03 Is renting throwing money away?
Not always, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something. Rent buys you a place to live and keeps your cash free, and for shorter stays it is often the financially better choice. The real question is where you sit on the timeline, and that is exactly what the calculator answers: once buying beats rent over your planned stay, your payments start building equity you keep.
04 How do Florida taxes and insurance change the math?
Florida's lack of a state income tax helps your monthly budget, but property taxes and insurance do real work on the other side. Millage rates vary by county, wind and flood coverage are separate and can swing between renewals, and the homestead exemption only kicks in once the home is your primary residence. The property tax calculator shows the tax side, and the mortgage payment calculator holds the full monthly picture.
05 What if I am moving here from out of state?
Wiz works with out-of-state buyers every week, and the honest advice is to run the math twice: once for the year you actually need a place to live, once for the long term. Many new arrivals rent for a year to learn the market, the schools, and the commute before committing a down payment, and that is often the smart play. Others know exactly where they want to land and buy on the first trip. Both work when it is a plan, not a panic.
06 Is the calculator's number a guarantee?
No, and treat any tool that promises one with suspicion. It is a browser-only estimate built on assumptions you choose, and it is honest about what it can and cannot see. Wiz uses it as a planning tool, not a prophecy: on a strategy call he pairs your estimate with real lender quotes and current tax and insurance figures for the specific property, so the number you act on has actual weight behind it.
Have a question this page did not answer? Ask it directly: (561) 441-8420 or michael@thecompleterealestateteam.com.
It is not about us, it is about YOU!
Build, protect, and transfer generational wealth with a Real Estate Plan
Wiz is a Certified Real Estate Planning Advisor, Certified Real Estate Transition Specialist, and Certified A.I. Real Estate Advisor with The Complete Real Estate Team, powered by Dalton Wade Real Estate, Florida DRE #3301665. Bring the calculator output, your zip code, and your timeline to a free 15-minute strategy call, and he will turn the estimate into a plan: real lender quotes, current tax and insurance numbers, and an honest read on the timing.
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Michael "Wiz" Wisniewski, The Wizard of Real Estate
michael@thecompleterealestateteam.com Every plan starts with 15 minutes
Get the real numbers
Bring your numbers to a free strategy call
This is a browser-only estimate to help you plan. Michael “Wiz” Wisniewski pairs the math with real lender quotes, current tax and insurance figures, and a plan that fits your goals. No obligation, no pressure.
This is a browser-only estimate with simplified assumptions. It does not capture every cost of either choice.
Rent growth and home appreciation are assumptions you set, not predictions. Past trends do not guarantee future returns.
Owning also means repairs, insurance, and HOA fees; renting means no equity but more flexibility. Wiz talks through which fits your life plan.