What does a $400,000 home cost per month all-in?

About $2,872.62 in year one with 20% down at 6.5%: $2,022.62 principal and interest, $366.67 property tax at 1.1%, $150 insurance, and $333.33 maintenance at 1% of value per year.

Why is the monthly cost higher than my rent for the same house?

Owners pay tax, insurance, and upkeep that a landlord nets out of the rent, and early mortgage payments are mostly interest. The compensation is principal paydown and appreciation, which only the full-horizon comparison can weigh.

Rent vs Buy Calculator

Rent vs Buy Calculator — Monthly Cost of Owning

The cash-flow view: what owning the home actually costs per month in year one, before any appreciation story. The default $400,000 purchase runs $2,872.62 a month — $2,022.62 of principal and interest, $366.67 of property tax, $150 of insurance, and $333.33 of maintenance — against $2,200 rent. The page exists because budgets are monthly even when the investment case is decadal.

Rent vs buy over your horizon

Monthly rent today ($)Annual rent increase (%)Home price ($)Down payment (%)Mortgage rate (% APR, 30-year)Years you'd stayProperty tax (%/yr of value)Insurance + HOA ($/mo)Maintenance (%/yr of value)Home appreciation (%/yr)

Cheaper over 7 years

Buying

by $46,398 under these assumptions

Breakdown

Total rent paid$202,289

Owner cash outlay$339,847

Equity recovered at sale$183,956

Net cost of owning$155,891

Mortgage payment (P&I)$2,022.62

First-year monthly ownership cost$2,872.62

Assumes 3% buyer closing costs, 7% selling costs, constant rates, and no itemized tax deduction. A scenario comparison, not housing-market advice.

Count all four lines, not just the mortgage

Listing sites quote the P&I payment; ownership bills the rest too. On the default home, tax, insurance, and maintenance add $850 a month — 42% on top of the mortgage payment. Maintenance is the line buyers most often zero out, and the 1%-of-value-per-year default is if anything conservative for older houses; roofs, HVAC, and water heaters arrive in lumps but average out near there.

The gap between owning's monthly cost and your current rent is also your affordability check: if $2,872.62 against $2,200 rent strains the budget, the long-run equity argument is moot — you have to make every monthly payment to collect it. Pair this view with the full-horizon comparison before deciding.

Questions

What does a $400,000 home cost per month all-in?: About $2,872.62 in year one with 20% down at 6.5%: $2,022.62 principal and interest, $366.67 property tax at 1.1%, $150 insurance, and $333.33 maintenance at 1% of value per year.
Why is the monthly cost higher than my rent for the same house?: Owners pay tax, insurance, and upkeep that a landlord nets out of the rent, and early mortgage payments are mostly interest. The compensation is principal paydown and appreciation, which only the full-horizon comparison can weigh.

More ways to use this calculator

Start with the main rent vs buy calculator or compare the other published scenarios.

Main calculator 5-Year Horizon

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