Calculator · Clark County, WA & Portland, OR
Rent vs. Buy, run honestly
Buying builds equity; renting frees up cash to invest. This tracks both — the owner’s net worth against a renter who invests the difference — and taxes both sides when they cash out.
Use the rent vs. buy calculator below to compare renting against buying in Clark County, WA and Portland, OR. It invests the renter’s down payment, lets both sides invest the monthly difference, and taxes both exits — so the answer isn’t a sales pitch.
Your inputs
Buying is ahead
At year 10 in Clark County, owning nets $9,414 more than renting and investing — after every tax on both sides.
Where this model refuses to cheat
The renter invests the down payment. The single biggest driver of the renting outcome is the upfront cash — down payment plus closing — invested on day one. Calculators that skip it aren’t comparisons; they’re pitches.
Investing runs both ways. Rent rises; a fixed mortgage payment doesn’t. Early on the renter invests the monthly savings; once rent overtakes the cost of owning, the owner invests the difference. Neither side gets a savings account the other is denied — and the discipline dial lets you model a saver who doesn’t invest every dollar.
The exit is taxed — in both directions. The owner pays selling costs, Washington’s graduated excise (or none in Oregon), and capital-gains tax on any home gain above the §121 exclusion. The renter pays federal capital-gains tax on the portfolio — plus Washington’s 7% excise on ETF gains above $278K, or Oregon’s ~9.9% income tax on those gains. A calculator that taxes the house but not the portfolio isn’t a comparison; it’s a pitch.
Two markets, honestly different. Clark County has no state income tax but charges real estate excise at sale; Portland has no transfer tax but taxes investment gains. The model swaps both when you switch markets. Mortgage interest only helps at the margin — itemized deductions above the standard deduction, capped at $750K of loan. Dividends drag on the portfolio every year. PMI applies under 20% equity and falls off as the home grows.
Shopping new construction? A builder’s incentive is a menu, not a number — our builder incentive calculator deploys the same dollars five ways and ranks them for your hold.
Tax defaults reflect 2026 law. This is a model, not advice — defaults are editable assumptions, not predictions, and small changes flip the answer, which is the point. Consult a CPA or licensed advisor before acting.
© 2026 The Tartan Team · Real Broker, LLC. This calculator and the model behind it are original work of The Tartan Team.
Rent vs. buy in Clark County & Portland: common questions
At today's roughly 6–7% mortgage rates, renting is often cheaper month-to-month in Clark County — sometimes 30% or more below the true cost of owning a comparable home. Buying tends to win only if you stay long enough for appreciation and equity to overcome the upfront and selling costs. This calculator shows the break-even year for your specific price, rate, and rent.
With 20% down you'd need about $100,000 down plus roughly $12,500 in buyer closing costs — around $112,500 upfront. You can put down as little as 3–5%, which lowers the cash needed but adds PMI until you reach 20% equity. Set the down payment in the calculator to see the upfront cash and monthly cost for any price.
It comes down to a tax trade-off. Washington (Clark County) has no state income tax but charges a graduated real estate excise tax when you sell. Oregon (Portland) has no transfer tax but taxes investment gains at roughly 9.9%. Switch the market toggle to compare Clark County, WA against Portland, OR side by side — the calculator swaps both tax treatments.
The break-even horizon that used to be five to seven years has stretched closer to ten at current rates. It depends on home appreciation versus investment returns, your mortgage rate, and transaction costs — 9–10% round-trip is common. The calculator marks the exact break-even year for your assumptions.
Yes — on both sides. It applies buyer and selling costs, Washington's excise tax (or Oregon's none), the §121 home-sale exclusion, PMI, the marginal mortgage-interest deduction, and capital-gains tax on the renter's investment portfolio (federal plus WA excise or OR income tax). Most calculators tax the home but not the portfolio; this one taxes both.
Want these numbers run for your actual situation?
The defaults are a starting point. On a free strategy call we’ll plug in your price point, rate, and timeline — and talk through what the model can’t know.
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