Our editorial team
RentBuyPlanner is an independent publisher. Our calculators and guides are produced by our editorial team and built on a transparent, openly documented methodology — so you can check our work rather than take it on faith.
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Who we are
We are a small, independent team that builds financial calculators and writes plain-language guides about renting versus buying a home. We are not a lender, a brokerage, or an estate agent, and we do not sell a mortgage product. That independence is the point: our job is to model the decision honestly and let the numbers — and your own assumptions — speak.
What we cover
We focus on the decisions underneath buying a first or next home:
- Rent versus buy. When ownership tends to pull ahead of renting, when it does not, and why the answer hinges on how long you stay. Start with the rent vs buy calculator or the plain-English rent vs buy guide.
- Mortgages. How rate, term, and loan size shape the monthly payment and total interest, with the mortgage calculator and an amortization schedule.
- Affordability. What a lender is likely to approve versus what is comfortable to live with, via the affordability calculator.
- Down payments and upfront costs. The opportunity cost of cash you tie up, plus the fees that bracket a purchase — see the down payment calculator, the closing cost estimator, and the guide on the opportunity cost of a down payment.
How we work
Our approach is numbers-first and transparent. The flagship tool uses an invest-the-difference net-worth model: it compares the wealth you would build by buying against the wealth you would build by renting and investing the money you did not spend on a down payment and ownership costs. The headline output is a break-even horizon — the number of years after which buying tends to come out ahead. You can read exactly how that is computed, line by line, on the methodology page, with companion guides on how the rent vs buy math works and the break-even horizon.
We draw a clear line between fact and assumption. Tax rules, fee conventions, and how a mortgage amortizes are facts; future rates, home prices, and investment returns are assumptions you set and can change. Every illustrative figure on the site is labeled as an example, not a quote or a prediction. How we source, review, and correct content is described in our editorial policy.
Accountability
We stand behind our tools and welcome scrutiny. Spotted an error, have a question about the methodology, or want to suggest a topic? Reader feedback is how we improve — the fastest way to reach us is the contact page. We correct mistakes promptly and date every page so you can see when it was last reviewed.