Cost to own
Separate the cost of holding a home from the cost of financing it.
Guide updated · Source dates are shown in the app
Say a house looks inexpensive, but its tax, insurance and upkeep are high. Compare the cost of holding it before deciding how much rent might remain.
What is included
Cost to own adds property tax, insurance, modeled maintenance and any known HOA. The same annual stack can be shown in dollars, as a share of value, or divided into a monthly amount.
The home’s own inputs matter. An observed bill is different from an area rate multiplied by the asking price. A reported HOA of zero is different from an unknown fee. The area’s typical HOA is not added again to a home that already has its own fee.
The estimated part
Maintenance is a reserve from a model, adjusted for building age and climate. It is not a receipt for work on that home. The maintenance guide lists the model’s current base and bounds, generated from the calculation.
Insurance starts from historical observed premiums when supported, with state adjustments and labeled fallbacks. That is a screening estimate, not a quote. Read the insurance basis.
What is separate
The ownership stack has no mortgage. The Money tab adds borrowing assumptions separately when you compare financing. Rental operating expenses, vacancy and personal taxes can also change what you actually keep.
Rent divided by cost to own is not cash profit: a home can cover its unfinanced ownership cost and still cost you money after a loan.
Check the source date
An app rebuild does not make a historical tax or insurance source current. Read the source period and any estimated-input label. How fresh the data is. Open the cost tool.