Down Payment: Invested vs. a Home
Where your down payment grows faster
“I’d rather invest my money.” It’s a fair instinct — but a down payment in a home is leveraged: it controls the whole house, so appreciation compounds on the full price, not just the cash you put in. See what the same dollars become each way, over the time you choose.
Your numbers
Everything here is adjustable — nothing is a commitment. Change it and watch both paths update.
The home your down payment would buy.
The cash in question — invested, or put into the home.
Sets how fast the loan is paid down. Adjust to a rate Justin quotes you.
Yearly home-price growth. 4% is a common long-run assumption — not guaranteed, and it can be negative.
Yearly return if the down payment were invested instead. Market returns vary and aren’t guaranteed.
How long you’d hold either way.
Commission and closing costs to sell — taken off the home’s value so the equity shown is what you could actually walk with.
Owning usually costs more per month than renting (taxes, insurance, upkeep). Add that gap and it’s invested on the market side — a fair fight that counts ownership’s carrying cost.
Your down payment, in a home
$0
Estimates only · no credit pull · nothing is sent anywhere
Rough estimate only, for education — not investment, tax, or financial advice. This isolates the down payment: it compares that cash invested at the return you set against the equity it builds inside a home, and does not model every difference between renting and owning. Home value grows at the appreciation rate you enter, compounded annually; appreciation and investment returns both vary by market and time, are not guaranteed, and can be negative. Home equity is shown net of the selling costs you set and is not liquid; the invested balance is. The “extra monthly cost of owning” field, when used, invests that amount on the market side to account for ownership’s higher carrying cost, but property tax, insurance, maintenance, HOA, and the mortgage payment itself are otherwise excluded, as are investment taxes and the mortgage-interest deduction. Mortgage balance is a 30-year (360-month) amortization at the rate shown. Consult a financial advisor and a tax professional before deciding. This is not a pre-approval or a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.