Rent or buy?
In your own numbers: over the years you plan to stay, what renting and buying each leave you with. A calculation, not a recommendation.
Two of these numbers are guesses about the future — that the home rises 4% a year and that money invested instead earns 8%. They decide the answer. Prices can fall; investments can too. This is not advice.
Over 10 years, renting costs ر.ق 3,773,367.76 in rent. Buying puts ر.ق 9,942,829.55 through your hands, of which ر.ق 7,223,656.87 would come back when you sell — so owning's net cost is ر.ق 2,719,172.68.
But the renter keeps the ر.ق 2,240,000 and invests it, adding whatever owning would have cost more each year. At 8% that pot reaches ر.ق 10,661,238.62. That is the real comparison: ر.ق 7,223,656.87 of equity against ر.ق 10,661,238.62 of investments.
Neither is a recommendation. The answer moves with how long you stay and with two rates nobody can know in advance.
| Year | Rent that year | Owning that year | Owner's equity | Renter's pot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 300,000 | 754,815.60 | 2,252,884.32 | 2,874,015.60 |
| 2 | 315,000 | 757,815.60 | 2,688,709.01 | 3,546,752.45 |
| 3 | 330,750 | 760,965.60 | 3,149,064.48 | 4,260,708.24 |
| 4 | 347,287.50 | 764,273.10 | 3,635,675.15 | 5,018,550.50 |
| 5 | 364,651.88 | 767,745.98 | 4,150,412.30 | 5,823,128.64 |
| 6 | 382,884.47 | 771,392.49 | 4,695,308.05 | 6,677,486.96 |
| 7 | 402,028.69 | 775,221.34 | 5,272,570.71 | 7,584,878.56 |
| 8 | 422,130.13 | 779,241.63 | 5,884,601.91 | 8,548,780.35 |
| 9 | 443,236.63 | 783,462.93 | 6,534,015.25 | 9,572,909.07 |
| 10 | 465,398.46 | 787,895.29 | 7,223,656.87 | 10,661,238.62 |
- Move "years you expect to stay" up and down — it changes the answer more than anything else.
- Try appreciation two points lower and the investment return two points higher, then the reverse. If the answer flips, the decision is closer than it looks.
- Ask the lender for the real instalment and the seller for the real purchase costs; both are often higher than the defaults here.
- Rent, upkeep and insurance all rise by 5% a year.
- The property's value rises by 4% a year, every year — an assumption, not a forecast.
- The down payment and purchase costs, if not spent on the house, earn 8% a year — also an assumption.
- Each year, whatever owning costs more than renting is invested by the renter; if renting costs more, it is drawn from the pot.
- You sell at the end of the stay, pay the selling costs, and repay whatever is still owed.
- The loan is reducing-balance with a fixed rate, the same as the EMI calculator.
- No tax relief on interest, no rental deposit, no rent-free periods, and no income tax on the investment — these differ by country and by person.
A worked example
The form starts with these figures (in QAR) so you can see how it works before typing your own. They are made up — nobody's real numbers appear here.
Questions people ask
Why does it say renting wins? Everyone says buying is better.
Because in your numbers the money not sunk into a house earns more than the house gains, or the stay is too short for the purchase and selling costs to be absorbed. Change the years, or the two rates, and watch it move.
What is "equity"?
What you would actually walk away with if you sold: the sale price, less the cost of selling, less whatever is still owed on the loan.
What is the "renter's pot"?
The down payment and purchase costs a renter keeps, invested, plus every year's difference when owning would have cost more. It is the fair thing to compare equity against — not zero.
Which rate should I use for the property rising?
Nobody knows. Look at what similar homes in that area did over the last ten years, then try two points lower as well. If the answer flips, do not let this page decide for you.
Do you keep what I type here?
No. The figures are used to work out the answer and are not stored, and never appear in the page address.
These are estimates. The figures depend entirely on the numbers you enter and on assumptions that are listed on every result. They are not financial advice, and a bank, employer or authority may use different rules. Check anything important with them before you decide.
We do not keep your figures. Salary, debt and savings you type here are used to work out the answer and are not stored, and never appear in the page address. The only thing remembered is your country and language choice (a small cookie), so the currency can be suggested next time — never a figure you typed. Anonymous counters record that a calculation happened, not what it was.