For Anyone READY TO DO THE REAL LIFE MATHS ON PROPERTY...
WHAT'S THE TRUE COST OF YOUR PROPERTY DECISION?
BUY. RENT. STAY PUT. CASH OUT.
See what each path could mean for your cash flow, net worth and options between now and retirement...
...using your numbers, not someone else's opinion...
Personalised results you can save and keep. Do the maths on multiple scenarios.
All prices in USD.
PEOPLE LOVE TO TALK ABOUT PROPERTY, BUT...
HOW OFTEN DO WE ACTUALLY DO THE FULL MATHS?
Buy the house.
Pay down the mortgage.
Build equity.
One day, own it outright.
For generations, that's been the blueprint for financial security.
And maybe it's absolutely the right one for you.
But most of us have never actually compared it with the alternatives.
Not just mortgage repayment vs rent — but the rates, insurance, maintenance, buying and selling costs, interest, capital tied up in the property and what that money could potentially have been doing elsewhere.
Because the real question isn't:
"Is buying better than renting?"
It's:
"What's the best use of MY money, for the life I WANT to build?"
YEARS FROM NOW, EVERYONE MIGHT SAY YOU DID WELL...
The mortgage is smaller.
Your property is worth more.
On paper, you've made "financial progress."
But there's another side of the equation we rarely talk about.
What did that decision cost along the way?
Not just in dollars — but in cash flow, accessible capital and the opportunities that money might have created elsewhere.
Maybe buying and owning still wins.
Maybe renting and investing the difference wins.
Maybe using some of your capital differently opens up a business, an income stream, a career change — or simply more breathing space and flexibility.
The point is: we shouldn't have to guess.
These are decisions that can shape decades of our lives.
They're worth doing the real-life maths on.
REAl-LIFE NUMBERS. YOUR REAL-LIFE DECISION.
The True Cost of Property
An interactive decision tool designed to help you compare different property paths using your own numbers.
Buy. Rent. Stay put. Sell up and put your capital to work somewhere else...
You'll see how different choices could affect your cash flow, net worth and accessible capital between now and your chosen retirement age — including some of the costs and opportunity costs that rarely make it into the standard property conversation.
Change the assumptions. Test different scenarios.
See what happens.
We're not here to tell you what to do.
This tool exists to help you see what it could actually cost — so you can make the decision for yourself.
STOP GUESSING. COMPARE THE MATHS.
You don't need another opinion about whether property is a "good investment."
The western world (Australia especially!) has plenty of those.
You need to understand what the different choices could actually mean for you.
The True Cost of Property takes the vague questions...
"Should we buy?"
"Should we keep renting?"
"Are we crazy to sell?"
"What if we invested that money instead?"
"What would actually put us further ahead?"
...and gives you a way to test them.
You'll leave with a clearer picture of how different property decisions could affect your:
Cash flow.
Net worth.
Accessible capital.
And the options available to you between now and retirement.
Not so a calculator can make the decision for you.
So you can.
THIS MIGHT BE FOR YOU IF...
You're thinking about buying and wondering whether you really need to rush.
You already own and want to understand what your equity is actually doing for you.
You're renting and wondering whether you're genuinely “falling behind.”
You're considering, selling, downsizing or putting your capital to work differently.
Or you've simply reached the point where “because that's what you're supposed to do” isn't a good enough reason anymore.
YOU'RE GETTING FIRST ACCESS...
THIS IS IN BETA. THAT'S DELIBERATE!
The True Cost of Property is the first in a new True Cost Tools™ collection.
That means you're getting in early.
Rather than fill this page with testimonials from unrelated work I've done over the years, I'd rather earn new ones specifically for this.
Beta users will be helping me discover:
What surprised you?
What confused you?
What assumptions did you change?
What gave you a genuine lightbulb moment?
And most importantly...
Did seeing your own maths make you think differently?
You'll get founding beta pricing while I get something even more valuable:
Your feedback.
All prices in USD.
FAQ
"ARE YOU saying I shouldn't buy Property?"
Absolutely not.
For some people, buying may come out miles ahead — financially and personally.
This tool isn't designed to prove a conclusion. It's designed to help you test one.
"IS THIS A PROPERTY INVESTMENT OR “RENTVESTING” CALCULATOR?"
No.
The tool is specifically designed to explore the financial decision around your primary residence — the home you live in.
It compares the implications of buying or owning your home with renting your home and potentially putting the capital and/or cash-flow difference to work elsewhere.
It does not model buying an investment property while renting your primary residence (“rentvesting”), nor does it recommend property investment — or any other investment strategy.
The question we're exploring is simply: what could buying versus renting the home you live in mean for your money, your options and your life?
"I ALREADY OWN MY HOME. IS THIS STILL FOR ME?"
Yes.
You can use the tool to explore what staying put could look like compared with other scenarios — including what your existing equity might potentially do if deployed differently.
You don't need to be planning to sell.
Sometimes knowing that the decision you've already made still stacks up is valuable in itself.
"I'M CURRENTLY RENTING AND THINKING ABOUT BUYING. IS IT FOR ME?"
Very much so.
In fact, doing this maths before committing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a property may be one of the most useful times to do it.
You'll be able to compare buying with continuing to rent and using your available capital differently.
"ISN'T RENT JUST DEAD MONEY?"
That's exactly the kind of assumption this tool is built to interrogate.
Rent is a cost.
So are mortgage interest, rates, insurance, maintenance, transaction costs and plenty of other expenses associated with owning property.
The interesting question isn't which option has no unrecoverable costs.
Neither does.
It's what the total picture looks like under each scenario.
"I'm not good with numbers. will i actually understand this?"
You don't need to understand the formulas. That's the tool's job.
If you're unsure about any other inputs it asks for, even using ball park numbers from a quick web or AI search, will help you fill them in and get a feel for your unique scenario.
You just need to understand what the results mean for you.
"WHAT IF I DON'T KNOW WHAT PROPERTY OR INVESTMENTS WILL RETURN?"
Neither do I. Nobody does.
That's why you can change assumptions and test different scenarios rather than pretending one forecast is guaranteed.
But we CAN look at history — including long-term averages and periods where outcomes have varied significantly — and use that data to test different assumptions.
The goal isn't to predict the future perfectly. It's to understand which assumptions your decision depends on.
"IS THIS FINANCIAL ADVICE?"
No.
The True Cost of Property is an educational decision tool designed to help you explore hypothetical scenarios using information and assumptions you provide.
It doesn't know your complete financial circumstances, objectives or needs, and it won't tell you whether you should buy, sell, rent, borrow or invest. It models scenarios so you can better understand the trade-offs and make your own informed decisions.
The decision remains yours.
As it should. Always!
"IS THIS TOOL ONLY FOR AUSTRALIANS?"
No. The True Cost of Property has been built with users across most Western countries and currencies in mind, with plenty of customisable input fields so you can enter costs and assumptions relevant to where you live. If your country isn’t included in the initial options on the About You screen, simply choose the closest available option and customise your inputs from there. The tool is designed to model real-life scenarios using your numbers, and many of the financial principles and trade-offs it explores are shared across countries.
GET IN EARLY...
BETA ACCESS - $27
This is the first release of the True Cost of Property tool.
You'll get:
Lifetime access to the full interactive tool
Your own personalised scenarios from today through to your chosen retirement age
The ability to change assumptions and test different property paths
A personal walkthrough video explaining the maths, the thinking behind the tool and some of the bigger questions worth asking once you've seen your numbers
Founding beta pricing in return for your feedback
All prices in USD.
TRY IT RISK FREE
💡
THE 'LIGHTBULB' Guarantee
If you don't come away with at least one genuine...
"I'd never thought about it like that"
...moment from seeing your own numbers, ask for your $27 back.
Simple.
You've probably heard enough opinions about property.
Now see your numbers.
No prescription.
No "property always goes up."
No "rent money is dead money."
Just a different way to understand one of the biggest financial decisions most of us ever make.
MEET THE CREATOR
PS... THIS STARTED AS MY OWN SPREADSHEET.
I didn't originally build the True Cost of Property to sell it.
I built it because I wanted to answer questions about my own money that all the usual property calculators weren't answering.
What was my equity really doing for me?
What was it costing me to keep it there?
What might life look like if I made a different choice?
And, perhaps most importantly:
What was I potentially putting off while waiting to feel financially "safe"?
The answers changed the way I thought about property, money and what financial security actually means.
So I rebuilt the scrappy spreadsheet into something much easier to use — and now you can put your numbers through it too.
I don't know what answer you'll get.
That's the point.
Measure what matters. Decide with confidence. Live by design.
For YOU!
Amy
All prices are in USD.
EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY: True Cost Tools™ are educational tools designed to help you explore hypothetical scenarios using information and assumptions you provide. Results are estimates only and are not predictions, recommendations or personal financial advice. We don't know your complete financial circumstances, objectives or needs, and nothing provided should be relied upon as a recommendation to make any particular financial decision. Assumptions about future conditions and outcomes are uncertain, and actual results may differ significantly. Consider your own circumstances and, where appropriate, seek advice from a suitably qualified and licensed professional before making significant financial decisions.
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