Hamptons · Calculator

Rent for the summer, or buy?

A Hamptons renter pays for about fourteen weeks, Memorial Day to Labor Day, and nothing the rest of the year. An owner pays for all fifty-two and keeps the house. Enter the season rent you would pay and the house you would buy; the calculator compares where each path leaves you, after East End closing costs on the way in and out and the tax on the sale.

Renting for the summer (your figures)

The season runs Memorial Day to Labor Day: May 31 to September 6, 2027, 99 days or about 14.1 weeks. Most houses lease for the full season or for July or August.

Rent for the season, total

Full season, or the month you take.

Weeks it covers

Other rentals in the year, total

Thanksgiving, holidays, off-season weekends, if you would rent them too.

Buying

Purchase price

Down payment %

Rate %

Term, years

Town

School district

Property tax, per year

Town-roll estimate at this price: $13,355. Town, county and school, before fire, ambulance and any village tax; a sale does not reset the assessment, so the seller’s bill is the better number. Full carrying-cost calculator.

Insurance, per year

Homeowner's, wind, flood, liability.

Upkeep, per year

Grounds, pool, caretaker, utilities, repairs, opening and closing.

Renting it out while you own it (optional, your figures)

Rent you would collect, per year

Say, August, or the off-season.

Days rented

Days you use it

Leasing or management %

Fewer than 15 days rented in the year: the rent is not federally taxable (IRC §280A(g)). Fifteen or more: taxed after the rental share of costs, with no loss allowed while you use the house yourself. Town and village permits and minimum terms apply: the local rules.

Growth, return and taxes

Price growth %

Rent growth %

Cost growth %

After-tax return on cash %

What the down payment would earn if you rented.

Commission when you sell %

Household income

Mortgage on your main home

Interest is deductible on $750K of debt across both homes.

Filing status

State you live in

I live in New York City

The answer

Years you would rent or own

Enter the rent for the season you would take to compare the two.

Insurance or upkeep is at $0. Enter them, or owning will look cheaper than it is.

Year 1, owning

Mortgage payments ($22,122 a month)	$265,469
Property tax	$13,355
Insurance	$0
Upkeep	$0
Federal tax saved on mortgage interest	−$18,047
Cost of owning, year 1	$260,777

Mortgage payments include $39,120 of principal, which you get back at the sale. At closing: $1,500,000 down and $257,960 of East End buyer costs (CPF, mansion tax, mortgage recording tax, title, attorney); line items.

Wealth after each year, buy vs rent each summer

Year	Buy	Rent	Difference
1	$1,406,370	$2,106,635	−$700,264
2	$1,594,268	$2,473,143	−$878,875
3	$1,789,344	$2,858,388	−$1,069,044
4	$1,952,728	$3,263,320	−$1,310,592
5	$2,107,998	$3,688,935	−$1,580,937
6	$2,269,799	$4,136,281	−$1,866,482
7	$2,438,455	$4,606,457	−$2,168,002
8	$2,614,305	$5,100,619	−$2,486,315
9	$2,797,707	$5,619,981	−$2,822,274
10	$2,989,039	$6,165,817	−$3,176,777
11	$3,123,261	$6,739,465	−$3,616,204
12	$3,326,182	$7,342,332	−$4,016,150
13	$3,538,142	$7,975,895	−$4,437,753
14	$3,759,610	$8,641,704	−$4,882,094
15	$3,991,080	$9,341,389	−$5,350,309

Positive: buying is ahead. Buy = the house sold that year ($6,719,582 in year 10) after East End seller costs, capital gains tax and the loan payoff, plus anything saved in years owning cost less than renting. Rent = the $1,757,960 kept at closing, plus each year’s saving, invested.

The full breakdown

See every line item.

What the numbers leave out: the owner has the house in May, September and every winter weekend, and the renter does not; the renter takes no repair or market risk and can change towns each year. Those are worth what they are worth to you.

Simplified: tax uses today’s income; property tax is not deducted (the state and local cap is usually used up by income tax); depreciation on a rented house is not claimed; the house is a second home, so the sale gets no primary-residence exclusion. Confirm with your accountant before acting.

Talk to Corey about buying or renting in the Hamptons

Prefer to speak directly? Schedule a consultation →

Corey Cohen, Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker · The Roebling Team at Compass
646.939.7375 · c.cohen@compass.com

How the Hamptons differs from a city rent-vs-buy

The rent is seasonal. A renter’s cost is one season a year; an owner’s is twelve months of tax, insurance, grounds and caretaking.
Buying carries the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund tax (2.5% in Southampton and East Hampton, less a $400,000 exemption that is lost above $2M) and the flat 1% New York mansion tax at $1M or more.
An owner can rent the house out for part of the season. Under 15 days a year the rent is not federally taxable; beyond that it is, and town and village permits and minimum terms apply.
A second home gets no primary-residence exclusion at the sale, and mortgage interest is deductible only on the first $750,000 of debt across both homes.

Related tools

Hamptons carrying cost: taxes by school and fire district, flood zone, septic, upkeep.
Hamptons buyer closing costs: CPF, mansion tax, mortgage recording tax.
Hamptons capital gains: the tax when you sell.
Sell or rent out: for an owner deciding whether to keep the house.