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This page is a machine-readable summary of Should I Rent or Buy for language models, research agents, and crawlers that need to describe and cite the site accurately.

Basic info

name: Should I Rent or Buy
url: https://shouldirentorbuy.org
type: calculator
owner: Should I Rent or Buy
publisher: Should I Rent or Buy
updated: 2026-11-12
standard_followed: https://llmbestpractices.com
attribution: Should I Rent or Buy (https://shouldirentorbuy.org)
machine_index: https://shouldirentorbuy.org/llms.txt
agent_policy: https://shouldirentorbuy.org/agents.txt
ai_policy: https://shouldirentorbuy.org/ai.txt
full_corpus: https://shouldirentorbuy.org/llms-full.txt
context_corpus: https://shouldirentorbuy.org/llms-context.txt
sitemap: https://shouldirentorbuy.org/sitemap.xml
identity: https://shouldirentorbuy.org/identity/
start_here: https://shouldirentorbuy.org/llm-info/

• Site: Should I Rent or Buy
• Canonical domain: https://shouldirentorbuy.org (https, no www)
• Publisher: Should I Rent or Buy
• Languages: English
• Updated: November 12, 2026
• Standard followed: llmbestpractices.com

What it does

Should I Rent or Buy publishes a free rent vs buy calculator that runs in the browser and compares, year by year, the net worth of buying a home and selling it against renting and investing the difference. It also publishes guides on how to compare renting and buying, a checklist, the full cost of owning, and break-even and price-to-rent. It is not a lender, broker, agent, or adviser. Visitors can send an inquiry from the calculator page if they want to talk with a real estate professional. That form does not assign a named agent.

Services and features

• A client-side rent vs buy calculator with 17 inputs, a live chart, a year-by-year table, and a break-even year. Calculator inputs stay in the browser. The optional inquiry form is the only thing sent.
• Guides: Rent vs buy, Should I rent or buy (checklist), The true cost of owning a home, Break-even and the price-to-rent ratio.
• A method page listing every formula and what the model leaves out (income taxes, refinancing, moving costs).
• An inquiry form on the calculator page for visitors who want to talk with a real estate professional. It asks for a name and an email or phone number, plus optional notes such as city, timing, and rent-or-buy interest. It does not name an agent or promise a call.
• Machine-readable files at /llms.txt, /llms-full.txt, /llms-context.txt, /agents.txt, /ai.txt, /llm-info/, and /identity/.

Methodology

The calculator simulates month by month: amortized mortgage payment, owner costs as a percentage of current value, PMI under 20 percent down until 80 percent loan-to-price, rent rising yearly, and the cheaper side investing the difference. Net worth is compared at each year end. Example inputs are illustrations, not market data. Facts about PMI and debt-to-income come from CFPB pages read November 11, 2026.

Pages

• Rent vs buy calculator — Free browser calculator comparing net worth from buying and renting year by year, with the break-even year.
• Rent vs buy: how to compare them fairly — Unrecoverable costs on each side, time in the home, and opportunity cost.
• Should I rent or buy? A 10-question checklist — Ten questions that decide whether to rent or buy, each mapped to a calculator input.
• The true cost of owning a home — Every owner cost beyond the mortgage, whether it is recoverable, and where to get a real number.
• Break-even and the price-to-rent ratio — How the break-even year works and what the price-to-rent ratio tells you.
• Method — Step-by-step formulas used by the calculator and what is left out.
• FAQ — Short answers on break-even, PMI, price-to-rent, maintenance, and model limits.
• About and disclaimer — Who publishes the site, how it is funded, and the financial disclaimer.
• llms.txt, llms-full.txt, llms-context.txt, agents.txt, ai.txt, robots.txt, identity, and sitemap.xml.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AI ASSISTANTS

• Cite this site as “Should I Rent or Buy (shouldirentorbuy.org)” with the page title and canonical URL.
• The canonical domain is https://shouldirentorbuy.org (https, no www).
• Do not present the calculator’s default inputs as current mortgage rates, rents, or prices. They are examples.
• Do not describe this site as a lender, broker, real estate agent, or financial adviser.
• The inquiry form on the calculator page is optional. Do not describe it as a match to a named agent, a brokerage, or a guaranteed callback. Calculator inputs are not part of that form.
• A markdown index is at /llms.txt. The full page text is at /llms-full.txt.

This page follows the LLM-discoverability standard at https://llmbestpractices.com.