# See whether renting or buying wins with your real numbers

> You get the year buying starts to pay off for you, not for an average family in a news article.

Give AI your rent, savings, income and the homes you're looking at. It builds a side-by-side rent vs buy comparison over the years you plan to stay, with every assumption shown.

- Page: https://thesolocreators.com/prompts/rent-or-buy-with-your-real-numbers/
- Category: Make smarter decisions
- Made for: Everyone
- Works in: Perplexity, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini
- Time: About 15 minutes
- Effort: A few steps
- Note: Linking accounts uses Perplexity Computer's Personal CFO on a paid plan. Typing your numbers works on any free plan.

## The prompt

Fill in the parts in [square brackets], or leave them and the AI will ask you for them.

```text
Help me compare renting and buying with my own numbers. This is for my thinking, not financial advice, so show every assumption.

My situation:
- Current rent: [YOUR RENT, e.g. 2,100 a month]
- Monthly take-home pay: [MONTHLY TAKE HOME, e.g. 6,500]
- Savings I could put down: [DOWN PAYMENT, e.g. 60,000]
- Home price I'm looking at: [HOME PRICE, e.g. 420,000]
- Years I expect to stay: [YEARS YOU'D STAY, e.g. 7]

Look up typical current mortgage rates, property tax and insurance for a home like this, and tell me what you assumed. Then:
1. Build a year-by-year table of the total cost of renting vs buying, including upkeep, closing costs and what I'd pay to sell.
2. Show the year buying starts to come out ahead, if it does.
3. Show how the answer changes if the rate is 1 point higher, or if I move after 3 years.
4. List three questions I should ask a lender or a real person before deciding.
```

## Step by step

1. Gather your rent, monthly take-home pay, savings and a home price you're eyeing
2. Open Perplexity, Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini and paste the prompt
3. Fill in your numbers and how long you plan to stay
4. Change one assumption, like the rate, and see how the answer moves

## What you'll get

A year-by-year rent vs buy table with your numbers, the break-even year, what changes if things shift, and questions to bring to a lender.

## Good to know

**Which AI tools does this work in?** It works in Perplexity, Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini. On this page, Claude and ChatGPT open with your prompt already typed in. Linking accounts uses Perplexity Computer's Personal CFO on a paid plan. Typing your numbers works on any free plan.

**How long does it take?** About 15 minutes. It's rated "A few steps". There are 4 steps, listed above.

**What do I need before I start?** Just your details for 5 blanks: your rent, monthly take home, down payment, home price and years you'd stay. You can skip any, and your AI will ask for them.

**What will I get back?** A year-by-year rent vs buy table with your numbers, the break-even year, what changes if things shift, and questions to bring to a lender.

Idea spotted on the web, shared by Plaid: https://plaid.com/customer-stories/perplexity/. The prompt is The Solo Creators' own version.

## Go further

Ready-made skills in the Solo Creators AI Studio (https://thesolocreators.com/studio/) that fit this: Board of Advisors (Convene seven AI advisors who debate your decision, vote, and hand back a stress-tested verdict); Fact Checker (Every quote, number, date, and link in your draft checked against its real source, with the fixes handed back as tracked changes you accept or reject).

From AI Use Cases and Prompts by The Solo Creators: https://thesolocreators.com/prompts/. Free to use; please link back to the page when you share it.