{
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  "@type": "Dataset",
  "name": "What assumptions should a rent vs buy calculator use?",
  "description": "At minimum: home price, comparable rent, down payment, mortgage rate, years you'll stay, appreciation, rent growth, property tax, maintenance, insurance, buy and sell costs, and an investment return for the renter's cash. Any calculator that hides these is giving you an opinion, not a calculation.",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/answers/rent-vs-buy-assumptions-explained",
  "dateModified": "2026-10-01",
  "creator": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "RevenueLab",
    "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi"
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "keywords": [
    "Rent vs Buy Net Worth Calculator",
    "Rent vs Buy Break-Even Calculator",
    "Price-to-Rent Ratio Calculator",
    "Down Payment Opportunity Cost Calculator"
  ],
  "distribution": {
    "@type": "DataDownload",
    "contentUrl": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/page.json?path=answers%2Frent-vs-buy-assumptions-explained",
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  "json": {
    "type": "answer",
    "question": "What assumptions should a rent vs buy calculator use?",
    "shortAnswer": "At minimum: home price, comparable rent, down payment, mortgage rate, years you'll stay, appreciation, rent growth, property tax, maintenance, insurance, buy and sell costs, and an investment return for the renter's cash. Any calculator that hides these is giving you an opinion, not a calculation.",
    "tableTitle": "Our default assumptions and their sources",
    "columns": [
      "Assumption",
      "Default",
      "Source / basis"
    ],
    "rows": [
      {
        "label": "Home price",
        "value": "$420,000",
        "note": "≈2025 US median existing-home price (NAR)"
      },
      {
        "label": "Mortgage rate",
        "value": "6.5%",
        "note": "Freddie Mac PMMS 30-yr range, 2025–2026"
      },
      {
        "label": "Appreciation",
        "value": "3.5%/yr",
        "note": "Long-run FHFA House Price Index average"
      },
      {
        "label": "Rent growth",
        "value": "3.5%/yr",
        "note": "Long-run CPI shelter average"
      },
      {
        "label": "Property tax",
        "value": "1.1%",
        "note": "Approx. national effective rate; varies by county"
      },
      {
        "label": "Maintenance",
        "value": "1%/yr",
        "note": "Common planning rule of thumb"
      },
      {
        "label": "Closing / selling",
        "value": "3% / 6%",
        "note": "Typical buyer fees / commission + transfer"
      },
      {
        "label": "Investment return",
        "value": "6%/yr",
        "note": "Conservative diversified portfolio"
      }
    ],
    "context": "The two assumptions with the largest effect are years you'll stay and the gap between appreciation and investment return. Run the calculator with pessimistic, central and optimistic values to see how robust your answer is.",
    "methodology": "Excluded deliberately: mortgage interest deduction (most filers take the standard deduction), capital-gains tax (the $250k/$500k exclusion covers most sellers) and PMI (lender- and credit-specific).",
    "dateModified": "2026-10-01",
    "relatedCalculators": [
      {
        "label": "Rent vs Buy Net Worth Calculator",
        "to": "/rent-vs-buy-net-worth-calculator"
      },
      {
        "label": "Rent vs Buy Break-Even Calculator",
        "to": "/rent-vs-buy-breakeven-calculator"
      },
      {
        "label": "Price-to-Rent Ratio Calculator",
        "to": "/price-to-rent-ratio-calculator"
      },
      {
        "label": "Down Payment Opportunity Cost Calculator",
        "to": "/down-payment-opportunity-cost-calculator"
      }
    ],
    "relatedReading": [
      {
        "label": "How to calculate rent vs buy",
        "to": "/answers/how-to-calculate-rent-vs-buy"
      }
    ]
  }
}