Calculator
Manhattan Rent vs Buy Calculator
Manhattan rent-vs-buy math has its own moving parts: the mansion tax cliff at $1M, $2M, $3M, $5M+; mortgage recording tax on condos; co-op flip taxes; transfer taxes at sale; capital gains with the primary-residence exclusion; and the SALT cap interaction with New York’s already-substantial state and city income tax. This calculator runs the full local math for your specific apartment.
Purchase price
$
Down payment
%
Mortgage rate
%
Property type
Monthly common charges
$
Monthly property tax
$
≈ $15,000/year
Equivalent monthly rent
$
What it would cost to rent a comparable apartment in the same building or neighborhood.
Time horizon
years
Stock market return
%
What the down payment + closing costs would earn if invested in the market instead (S&P 500 long-run ~7–10%). Not the apartment’s appreciation — that’s in advanced inputs.
+ Show advanced inputs
Annual rent growth
%
Annual home appreciation
%
How much the apartment itself gains in value per year (long-run Manhattan average ~2–3%).
Marginal tax rate
%
Attorney fee
$
Annual home insurance
$
Primary residence
Filing status
What the math accounts for
- Buying. Down payment + mansion tax + mortgage recording tax (condos) + title insurance (condos) + attorney. Monthly: P&I, maintenance/CC, property tax, insurance — less mortgage interest deduction (first $750K of debt).
- Selling at horizon. 6% broker, NYC + NY State transfer taxes, co-op flip tax, attorney, capital gains tax (federal 20% + NIIT 3.8% + NY State 6.85% + NYC 3.876%, less primary-residence exclusion).
- Renting. Rent rises annually. Down payment + closing kept invested at your specified ROI. Monthly differential between rent and buy also invested.
Manhattan-specific tax rules
- Mansion tax cliff. 1% at $1M, stepping up to 3.9% above $25M. Each threshold meaningfully shifts the buy-side closing math.
- Condo mortgage recording tax. 1.8–1.925% of the loan amount on condos. Not applicable to co-ops, which transfer shares rather than fee interest.
- Co-op flip tax. Typically 1–3% of the sale price, paid at closing on the way out.
- SALT cap. OBBBA raised the SALT cap to $40K for 2025–2029 (was $10K), phasing out 30% per dollar above $500K MAGI down to $10K at $600K+, then reverting to $10K in 2030. For most Manhattan luxury buyers, NY State and NYC income tax alone consume the entire cap before any property tax deduction can be applied — so property tax is effectively non-deductible at the federal level. The calculator models this directly.
- Mortgage interest cap. Deductible on the first $750K of mortgage debt — made permanent by OBBBA in 2025 (was scheduled to revert to $1M, now stays at $750K indefinitely).
What the answer means
- Break-even year. The point where the appreciation + principal paydown + tax benefits overtake the rent-and-invest scenario.
- Manhattan break-even. Usually falls in years 4–7 in stable markets. Below 3 years, almost always rent. Above 8 years with low rates, almost always buy.
- Net wealth. Your liquid + asset position at horizon end. Apples-to-apples comparison assuming same income.
Looking at a specific apartment?
The break-even number is the starting point. The number that actually matters is whether the building’s maintenance trend, flip tax, and board culture line up with your time horizon. A 30-minute call gets you that read.
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