Tool · Buy Now vs. Wait
What actually changes if you wait to buy
Waiting trades today's price and rate for tomorrow's — while you pay rent and keep saving. This tool lays both paths side by side and decomposes the difference. It does not tell you which to choose.
Default assumptions & where they come from
Every pre-filled figure below is editable. Example inputs (home price, income) are illustrations, not data; the assumptions listed here stand in for real-world statistics, so each carries its public source.
- Rate today: 6.5% (30-year fixed)Editable. Near the Freddie Mac PMMS 30-year average at verification; the live figure is on the Fee & Rate Index.
- Rate after waiting: 6.5% (assumption)An assumption you set — nobody publishes future rates.
- Home-price appreciation: 3.0%/yr (assumption)An assumption you set. The FHFA HPI shows historical change; past appreciation does not predict the future — try negative values too.
- Rent while waiting: $1,600/moRounded above the 2023 national median gross rent ($1,406). Replace with your actual rent.
Your scenario
Set what you expect to change while you wait. Every assumption is yours to move — the defaults are seeded from public benchmarks, cited on the right.
$42,500 today · you keep this cash if you wait
If you wait
1.0 years
Prices can fall as well as rise. Set what you expect.
Adds $6,000 to your down payment over 12 mo
Side by side
Buy now
Wait 12 mo
- Home price
- $425,000
- $437,750
- Interest rate
- 6.50%
- 6.50%
- Down payment
- $42,500
- $48,500
- Loan amount
- $382,500
- $389,250
- Monthly P&I
- $2,418
- $2,460
- Total interest (over term)
- $487,858
- $496,465
What waiting changes
- Home price
- +$12,750
- Monthly payment
- +$43/mo
- Rent paid while waiting
- +$19,200
- Extra saved (lowers your loan)
- −$6,000
Estimated net cost of waiting
$34,558
This is lifetime principal & interest difference plus the rent you'd pay while waiting, over a 30-year loan. It is an estimate that moves entirely with the assumptions you set above — not a prediction, and not advice.