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Los Angeles rent vs. buy calculator
Compare the monthly cost of owning a condo with renting, the equity you would build, and the year owning catches up with renting under your own assumptions.
In neighborhoods with enough active listings, you can start from today’s median asking price and rent. Published by Eltherion, LLC.
Your comparison
Enter your own figures. Nothing is filled in for you except the two growth assumptions, which start at 0%. Your entries stay in this page and are not submitted to us.
Start from today’s neighborhood medians
Fills in the median asking price and median asking rent from listings active on this site. These are asking figures, not closed sales, and not a particular home.
Your comparison
Enter 9 more figures to compare. Blank fields show “Not entered”.
A planning calculation under your inputs, not a forecast, loan quote or recommendation. It assumes a fixed-rate, fully amortizing loan with monthly payments; tax is the entered rate times the purchase price; insurance and HOA dues stay constant. Closing and selling costs, maintenance, special assessments, tax effects and what the down payment could earn elsewhere are excluded.
How the comparison works
The loan is the price minus your down payment, paid monthly on a fixed-rate, fully amortizing schedule. Property tax is your annual rate times the purchase price. Insurance and HOA dues stay constant. The home’s value changes once a year by your appreciation rate, and rent changes once a year by your rent-growth rate.
Each year-end compares two numbers: what you paid to own, minus your equity, against the rent you paid. The break-even search runs through your stay or the loan term, whichever is longer.
Upfront costs matter too. Itemize closing taxes and compare monthly ownership costs for specific residences. See the neighborhood market reports for the medians behind the buttons.
Not financial, legal or tax advice. Confirm the figures with your lender, escrow or title company, or attorney before you rely on them.
Common questions
What does the break-even year mean?
It is the first year-end at which owning's net cost is at or below the rent you would have paid. Owning's net cost is the down payment plus every mortgage, tax, insurance and HOA payment, minus your equity: the home's value under your appreciation assumption less the loan balance.
Why do appreciation and rent growth start at 0%?
They are your assumptions, not forecasts. We do not predict home values or rents, so both start at 0% and change only if you enter a different rate. Try several values to see how sensitive the answer is.
What does the calculator leave out?
Closing and selling costs, maintenance and repairs, special assessments, mortgage insurance, tax effects, rent deposits and the return your down payment could earn elsewhere. Each can change the answer, so add them to your own review.
Where do the neighborhood medians come from?
They are the median asking price and median asking rent for listings active on this site in that neighborhood, from the same data as our /market-reports pages, with the as-of date shown. They are asking figures, not closed sales, and a button appears only where both medians meet our minimum sample.