Florida Rent vs. Buy Calculator

Q: "Should I keep renting or buy now?" A: Run the actual numbers before you decide on a feeling. This tool shows your breakeven year and the real cumulative cost of each path, not a gut-check guess. Built by Keith Jones Sr, Broker/Owner (BK3328013), Public Services Realty — roughly thirty years reading this exact question for Northeast Florida buyers.

Q: What's wrong with comparing rent to a mortgage payment side by side?

A: It answers the wrong question. That comparison is the trap almost every quick online tool falls into, and it's the first thing I correct when a client brings me a "back of envelope" number. A real comparison has to account for what actually changes hands over the years you're modeling:

• What renting never bills you for. Property taxes, homeowner's insurance (Florida's is not cheap), upkeep, HOA dues, and — if you're putting down less than 20% — mortgage insurance. None of that appears on a lease.
• What the down payment gives up elsewhere. Tie up $85,000 on a $425,000 purchase and that money stops earning anywhere else. I charge the buy side for that lost return every year of the comparison, not just once — it's the line most quick calculators skip entirely.
• The toll on the way in. Roughly 2% of the price for origination, title, inspection, and recording, before you own a single square foot.
• The two things working in the buyer's favor. Every payment builds equity through principal pay-down, and appreciation — when it shows up, which isn't guaranteed every year — adds on top of it.
• The toll on the way out. Sell and you'll hand back roughly 6% in commissions plus another 1% in repairs, title, and closing costs. What's on paper isn't what lands in your account.
• Rent doesn't hold still. A mortgage payment is frozen the day you sign. Every year rent climbs after that, the freeze looks better.

Q: What's actually happening in the math behind the scenes?

A: Here's the arithmetic underneath, walked through year by year:

The rent side totals twelve months of rent for every year in the horizon, growing at whatever inflation rate you set. On top of that, I add back what the down payment and closing costs would have earned parked in an investment instead of tied up in a house — that's the honest comparison, and the piece most tools leave out.

The buy side stacks the down payment, closing costs, every mortgage payment, every tax and insurance bill, and every maintenance dollar spent — then subtracts the principal already paid down and whatever the house has appreciated, net of what selling would cost in that year.

Whichever year the buy-side running total drops below the rent-side running total is your breakeven year. Every year before it, renting comes out ahead on paper; every year after, buying does.

Q: So what does the math usually show for buyers in this market?

A: Run 2026 Florida numbers through this tool and buying usually pulls ahead once you're committed to 5 to 7 years in the house, given:

• Rates sitting in the 6.5%–7% range
• Price-to-rent ratios around 16–22 across Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlando suburbs
• Rent climbing 3%–5% a year
• A conservative 3% appreciation assumption

Where the math gets harder to justify without leaning on lifestyle value:

• High-insurance coastal markets (Monroe, Collier, Lee — still feeling the Ian effect)
• Heavy-HOA condo markets, where dues quietly erase the ownership advantage
• Any timeline under 2–3 years

Where it tends to favor buying fast:

• Northeast Florida suburbs — Jacksonville, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau
• Central Florida exurbs where rent has outpaced price
• Panhandle markets away from the immediate beach

Q: What does this tool leave out that I should still weigh?

A: Four things that matter and don't reduce to a spreadsheet cell:

• The tax-deduction question. Mortgage interest and property tax are itemized deductions, but with the standard deduction near $30,000 for a married couple, fewer buyers itemize than a decade ago. It can still matter in a higher-value home — have your CPA run the actual numbers.
• Homestead and the Save Our Homes cap. File homestead and your assessed value is capped at 3% growth a year. A decade in, the gap between assessed and market value is real money a renter never captures. I walk every buyer through the Florida Homestead Exemption guide before closing.
• What a house lets you do that a lease doesn't. Renovate it, paint it, stay as long as you want. Worth something, but it's yours to weigh, not mine to price.
• Where your risk sits. Buying puts your money in one asset in one place. Renting keeps you liquid and mobile. Neither answer is wrong — know which one you're actually choosing.

Frequently asked questions