How the break-even calculator works
Why break-even beats gut feeling
The rent-vs-buy argument is really about time: transaction costs are front-loaded (buying and selling each cost thousands), while equity and appreciation accumulate with tenure. Break-even is the year those forces cancel. Every market has one, and it ranges from ~2 years in cheap-ratio cities to 10+ in expensive ones.
The forces that move your year
High price-to-rent ratios push it later (expensive coastal metros); high expected appreciation pulls it earlier; high mortgage rates push it later (more of the payment is interest, less becomes equity); generous alternative returns on your down payment push it later too. The calculator weights all four honestly.
Using the number
Compare your realistic stay — not the dream stay — to the break-even year. Career volatility, family plans, and the city you actually want to live in belong in the stay estimate. The lease-versus-mortgage decision is mostly a mobility decision wearing a finance costume.