Rent vs Buy
Calculator

It depends heavily on how long you plan to stay. Buying carries ~7–8% upfront fees that renting doesn't, so buying usually only becomes cheaper than renting after a break-even point of roughly 4–7 years, depending on the rent-to-price ratio, mortgage rate and how the down payment would otherwise have been invested.

Two big ones: the 4% DLD transfer fee plus ~2% agency commission when buying (paid once, not spread out), and the opportunity cost of the down payment — the return that cash could have earned if invested instead of used to buy. Both meaningfully shift the true comparison and are included in this calculator.

Price-to-rent ratio is the property price divided by annual rent. Below ~15 generally favours buying, 15–20 is a toss-up depending on your timeline, and above ~20 usually favours renting unless you plan to stay long term. It's a quick sanity check alongside a full calculation.

Yes — a portion of every mortgage payment reduces your loan balance (equity), while 100% of rent goes to the landlord. This calculator accounts for that: the "cost of buying" nets off principal repaid, since that portion isn't truly spent, it's converted into ownership.

Owners pay annual service charges (commonly AED 10–25 per sq ft) that renters don't pay directly — landlords fold these into the rent instead. This is a real, recurring cost of ownership that's easy to forget when comparing a mortgage payment to a rent cheque.

If your time horizon is under 3–4 years, renting is usually financially safer: the upfront buying costs are hard to recover from a short hold, and property markets can move against you in the short term. Buying tends to make more sense once you're confident about staying 5+ years.