Should you buy or rent at this duty station? Built around the question generic calculators ignore: when do you PCS?
Buying carries big one-time costs — the VA funding fee, closing costs going in, and 5–6% in selling costs going out. It takes years of appreciation and equity to dig out of that hole. Civilians have time. You move on orders.
So this calculator does two things most don't: it centers your expected PCS date, and it credits the renter for investing the cash a buyer sinks into a down payment. That's the honest comparison — and it ends with a break-even point and a PCS Risk Score.
The mortgage payment is only part of it — here's the full monthly cost of owning vs. renting today.
Total wealth under each path if you sold at that month. Where the lines cross is your break-even; the dashed line marks your PCS date.
How far the verdict swings when each variable moves. The biggest bar is what your decision hinges on.
📍 NEXT STEPS
→ Already Own & PCSing? — Keep the house as a rental or sell it? Run the after-tax comparison. → Look Up Your BAH — Get the exact 2026 housing allowance for your duty-station ZIP before you decide. → VA Home Loan Calculator — Once you've decided to buy, size the actual payment and funding fee. → TSP Calculator — See what that down payment could grow to if you invested it instead. The opportunity cost, made concrete. → PCS Move Calculator — Estimate DLA, per diem, TLE, and PPM for the move itself.Every rent-vs-buy calculator online assumes you choose when to move. You don't — orders do. That single difference flips the usual advice, because the math of buying only works once you've owned long enough to earn back the costs of getting in and out: the funding fee or down payment, closing costs, and the 5–6% you'll hand a realtor on the way out. Sell before that point and you typically walk away with less than if you'd rented and invested the difference.
The VA loan softens the entry — no down payment and no PMI keep your monthly cost and upfront cash lower than a conventional buyer. But it doesn't remove the exit costs, and the funding fee is real money: 2.15% of the loan on first use with no down payment, 3.30% on subsequent use, and $0 with a qualifying VA disability rating. A VA loan tilts the table toward buying; it doesn't guarantee the answer.
The honest comparison also accounts for what a renter does with the money a buyer locks up. A down payment parked in the house can't be in the market. This calculator starts both paths from the same pile of cash and tracks total wealth over time, so the result reflects the real trade-off, not a thumb on the scale. Use the TSP Calculator to see that invested down payment grow, and the BAH Calculator to confirm your housing budget at this station.
Usually not, unless you'll hold long enough to clear break-even. Most buyers need 5–7 years to recover entry and exit costs through appreciation and equity; PCS cycles are often shorter. That's why your expected PCS date is the most important input on this page.
It helps — zero down and no PMI lower your costs — but the funding fee and the 5–6% selling costs at PCS remain. A VA loan improves the math without changing the basic short-hold problem.
Because a fair comparison must. The cash a buyer ties up in a down payment is cash a renter can invest instead. Ignore that and the result is biased toward buying. Here, both scenarios start from the same money and grow from there.
Often yes, but that's a separate decision with its own math — rental income tax, depreciation recapture, vacancy, management, and VA entitlement being tied up. This tool covers buy-and-sell vs rent; the keep-and-rent analysis gets its own calculator.
Enter your BAH to see utilization, surplus, or shortfall for both paths. Full ownership cost (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, maintenance) often exceeds BAH even when rent fits inside it.
Independent, official sources:
📎 VA Funding Fee & Closing Costs (VA.gov)📎 VA Home Loans (VA.gov)📎 Owning a Home (CFPB)📍 This is an estimate. For personalized help, your installation's financial counselors are free and confidential:
Find Your Installation's Finance Office & Counselors →Search for your base → Personal Financial Management / ACS / Fleet & Family Support / Airman & Family Readiness. All services are free and confidential.