Netherlands · owner-occupied home · monthly simulation
Rent or buy? Start with the answer, then inspect the why.Rent or buy?
Start with eight decisive inputs. Then see affordability, long-term wealth and exactly which assumptions could reverse the result. Every professional input remains available.
01
Cash flow tells you whether the month is comfortable.
02
Net worth includes equity, investing and exit costs.
03
Robustness tells you whether one assumption flips the answer.
The answer under your assumptions
Base case · year 10Calculating…
Projected lead
—
nominal euros after exit costs
The path, not just the endpoint
Wealth over time
Assumptions
Home —
Rent —
Invest —
Both paths start with the same liquid cash. Each month, the side with the lower housing outflow invests the selected share of the difference and keeps the rest as cash. The buy path assumes the home is sold at every plotted exit point.
What could flip the answer?
Three useful break-even points
These are scenario thresholds, not forecasts or promises. Change the assumptions to test your own view.
Same home · same capital · same monthly budget
Which financing mix fits?
Calculating the four strategies…
The wealth ranking uses identical hypothetical starting capital, keeps the entered reserve in cash, and applies the same month-by-month housing budget. Each card separately shows whether your entered cash can actually fund it. The same entered mortgage rate is used across LTVs; replace it with lender-specific quotes before deciding.
Explore the full calculationCapital, exit, stress tests, ledger, milestones and sources 7 sections
Where the starting cash goes
Capital allocation
Equal starting cash
—
Both paths use the liquid cash you entered.
- Down payment → home equity
- —
- Purchase costs spent
- —
- Liquid after purchase
- —
- Move costs spent
- —
- Liquid and investable
- —
Cash tied up in the home becomes equity, not a separate loss. Its opportunity cost is already reflected by the different investment portfolios and is not deducted twice.
Sell at the selected horizon
Exit-value bridge
Projected sale price—
Remaining mortgage—
Selling costs—
Buyer liquid investments—
Buyer cash savings—
Buy net worth—
Renter investment portfolio—
Renter cash savings—
Rent net worth—
The sale price follows your editable home-growth assumption.
2026–2036 housing paths
Four market lenses
Each card uses a transparent house-price anchor and its own inflation assumption. Today’s entered mortgage quote, rent growth and investment return remain unchanged; only the post-fixed-period rate is stressed.
Where uncertainty matters
What moves the answer most?
Keep the books separate
At the selected exit
- Home value
- —
- Mortgage balance
- —
- Selling costs
- —
- Invested cash
- —
- Cash savings
- —
- Cumulative interest
- —
- Maintenance + owner costs
- —
- Estimated tax adjustment
- —
- Box 3 paid
- —
- Investment portfolio
- —
- Cash savings
- —
- Cumulative rent paid
- —
- Rent at selected exit
- —
- Starting cash after move
- —
- Box 3 paid
- —
- Investment return input
- —
- Rent growth input
- —
- Non-refundable move costs
- —
No cherry-picked horizon
Milestones at a glance
| Exit | Buy net worth | Rent net worth | Difference | Buyer monthly | Renter monthly |
|---|
Calculation contract
What the model does—and does not claim
Equal starting position
Both paths receive the same liquid cash. Buying converts the down payment into home equity and spends itemised purchase costs; renting spends only entered move costs.
Equal monthly budget
Mortgage principal is a cash outflow and equity transfer—not a cost counted twice. The cheaper path invests the entered share of the monthly difference and keeps the remainder as cash.
Honest exit
Buyer wealth is home value minus remaining debt and selling costs, plus investments and cash savings. Renter wealth is its investment portfolio plus cash savings.
Clear boundary
This is a scenario calculator, not mortgage approval, tax advice or a forecast. It does not separately model early-repayment charges or future renter moves; comparable homes, contract terms and realistic behaviour remain your responsibility.
Primary sources
Rules you can verify yourself
Rijksoverheid
Maximum mortgage and 100% LTV
Belastingdienst
Transfer tax and starter exemption
NHG
2026 limit and 0.4% fee
NHG
Lower of purchase price or appraisal
Belastingdienst
Eigenwoningforfait and Hillen relief
Belastingdienst
Hillen and high-income rate interaction
Belastingdienst
2026 deduction-rate cap
ABN AMRO
Advertised mortgage-rate snapshot
CBS
Observed annual rent increases
ECB
Medium-term 2% inflation target
Nibud · Tweede Kamer
Maintenance reserve methodology
MSCI
World index gross-return factsheet
CBS StatLine
Existing-home price-index source series
DNB
2026–2028 housing-market outlook
CBS / Kadaster
Regional existing-home index
CBS / Kadaster
Existing-home index by dwelling type
CBS / Kadaster
2026 Q2 region and dwelling-type snapshot
Gemeente Utrecht
Merwedelijn scope and delivery boundary
Brainport Eindhoven
Housing, mobility and employment investment
AFM
Foundation-repair financing risk
Rijksoverheid
Home energy-label evidence
Rijksoverheid
VvE MJOP and reserve-fund requirement
Climate Impact Atlas
Address-context climate screening
Rijksoverheid
2026 rent-increase ceilings
Rabobank
Lender-specific cost illustration
2026–2036 base preset: 3.0% nominal home growth is the central planning anchor inside a 1.5%–4.0% range; 8.0% investment return is MSCI-informed and entered before Box 3; 3.8% rent growth is the 2022–2025 CBS arithmetic mean; 1.0% maintenance follows a rounded Nibud reserve; 4.65% mortgage is an ABN AMRO advertised snapshot; and 2.2% inflation is a scenario assumption. These are planning inputs, not forecasts.
Policy and advertised rates can change. Re-check these sources before making a live offer or mortgage application.