Rent vs buy a $750k house
Over 30 years, buying a $750k home comes out about $651,073 ahead — comparing buying (20% down, $150,000) against renting at $3,750/month and investing the down payment plus any monthly savings. Both paths start with the same money; the difference is where it goes.
Net worth over time: rent vs buy
Both start at age 30 with enough for the $150,000 down payment. The renter invests it (and any monthly difference) at 7%; the buyer puts it into a $750k home appreciating 3%/yr with a 30-year mortgage. In today's dollars:
| Age | Rent & invest | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | $199,415 | $194,532 |
| 35 | $447,838 | $527,184 |
| 40 | $741,705 | $910,845 |
| 45 | $1,089,963 | $1,355,433 |
| 50 | $1,503,269 | $1,873,599 |
| 55 | $1,994,328 | $2,484,040 |
| 60 | $2,578,291 | $3,229,363 |
What actually drives the answer
Rent vs buy is rarely about "throwing money away on rent." It hinges on a handful of levers this projection captures:
- Price-to-rent ratio. Here a $750k home is compared to $3,750/month rent. Where rent is cheap relative to prices, renting-and-investing can win; where buying is cheap relative to rent, owning pulls ahead.
- How long you stay. Buying carries big upfront costs (down payment, closing) that take years to earn back. The crossover in this scenario is around age 31. Move sooner and renting often wins.
- The invested difference. Renting only wins if you actually invest the down payment and monthly savings — not spend them. This model assumes you do.
The same comparison at every price point
The answer is driven far more by the price-to-rent ratio than by the price tag itself — hold that ratio fixed (rent at 0.5% of price per month, the national-ish average) and buying ends ahead at every price in the table. Each row is its own 30-year projection, not a scaling of the one above:
| Home price | Rent assumed | Buy ends | Rent & invest ends | Ahead by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $200k | $1,000/mo | $1,591,115 | $1,529,375 | Buy +$61,740 |
| $250k | $1,250/mo | $1,490,555 | $1,393,198 | Buy +$97,357 |
| $275k | $1,400/mo | $1,441,419 | $1,308,343 | Buy +$133,075 |
| $300k | $1,500/mo | $1,512,355 | $1,374,082 | Buy +$138,273 |
| $325k | $1,650/mo | $1,604,431 | $1,425,680 | Buy +$178,751 |
| $350k | $1,750/mo | $1,697,662 | $1,510,581 | Buy +$187,082 |
| $375k | $1,900/mo | $1,791,706 | $1,561,890 | Buy +$229,816 |
| $400k | $2,000/mo | $1,886,381 | $1,646,413 | Buy +$239,968 |
| $450k | $2,250/mo | $2,092,112 | $1,792,920 | Buy +$299,192 |
| $500k | $2,500/mo | $2,270,835 | $1,911,904 | Buy +$358,931 |
| $550k | $2,750/mo | $2,449,203 | $2,030,304 | Buy +$418,899 |
| $600k | $3,000/mo | $2,625,978 | $2,148,010 | Buy +$477,968 |
| $650k | $3,250/mo | $2,819,184 | $2,283,607 | Buy +$535,578 |
| $700k | $3,500/mo | $3,013,573 | $2,420,500 | Buy +$593,073 |
| $750k this page | $3,750/mo | $3,229,363 | $2,578,291 | Buy +$651,073 |
| $850k | $4,250/mo | $3,648,626 | $2,817,528 | Buy +$831,098 |
| $900k | $4,500/mo | $3,824,641 | $2,920,051 | Buy +$904,590 |
| $1M | $5,000/mo | $4,161,264 | $3,119,341 | Buy +$1,041,922 |
Can you afford it in the first place?
This page assumes both paths start with the 20% down payment in hand. The affordability pages ask the prior question — whether a $750k house is funded and carried on a given salary with 10% down and PMI, and what it does to the retirement age: on a salary of $150k · $200k.
Assumptions: 20% down, 6.5% mortgage, 30-yr term, 3% home appreciation, 1.1% property tax, 7% investment return, 3% inflation, single filer, no-income-tax state. Your local prices, rent, and how long you'll stay change the answer — model yours in the calculator.
The costs that scale with the price, not the payment
Buyers tend to anchor on the mortgage payment, but several ownership costs scale with the home's value and never build equity. Property taxes are a percentage of assessed value, so a pricier home carries a proportionally larger tax bill every year you own it — and assessments tend to rise over time. Insurance and maintenance climb the same way.
- Property tax is owed for as long as you hold the home, long after the mortgage is paid off.
- Maintenance commonly runs near one percent of the home's value a year, so a bigger house means bigger repair bills.
- Insurance and, in many buildings, HOA dues scale with the property as well.
None of these show up in the sticker price, yet together they can rival the mortgage over time. Renting bundles most of them into one payment that a landlord — not you — is responsible for. That is part of what you give up by owning, and it belongs in the comparison alongside equity and appreciation, not as an afterthought.
Common questions
Is it better to rent or buy a $750k house?
Over 30 years in this projection, buying comes out about $651,073 ahead — buying ends around $3,229,363 vs renting-and-investing around $2,578,291. It flips based on how long you stay, local price-to-rent, and whether you actually invest the difference.
How much do you need to buy a $750k house?
A 20% down payment is about $150,000, plus closing costs. Less than 20% down usually adds PMI. Renting frees that cash to invest instead — which is the core of the trade-off.
Does renting really mean throwing money away?
No. Rent buys housing without the costs of ownership (property tax, maintenance, transaction costs), and the down payment can be invested. Buying builds equity but ties up cash and assumes appreciation. Neither is automatically "throwing money away."