Rent to Buy Calculator
Work out how much cash you still need to buy the home under your lease-option terms.
Purchase option
This calculator models a lease-option.
No. Adding the option fee would put total credits above the purchase price.
Rent payments and credits
Count every rent payment through to purchase.
Count only the payments that earn a credit.
Costs and funding
Include only fees paid before purchase that earn no credit.
Include costs still to pay, such as transfer duty and conveyancing.
Enter the loan amount you want to model.
Cash still available after the rent, option fee and other fees.
Results
Funding gap after savings
$69,400
Cash needed after loan
$89,400
Remaining purchase price
$474,400
Purchase credits
$25,600
Total rent paid
$62,400
Rent and option fee paid
$72,400
Uncredited rent and fees
$46,800
Separate Rent, Credits and the Option Fee
A lease-option gives you the right to buy the home at an agreed price under the contract’s conditions. Enter the full weekly rent, then enter only the portion of each qualifying payment that the contract applies to the price.
For a late payment that earns no credit, count that week in total rent payments only. For a week you skip altogether, exclude it from both counts. Select Yes for the option fee only if the contract applies it to the purchase price.
Uncredited payments include the part of rent that pays for occupancy, any uncredited option fee and other non-creditable fees. A purchase credit reduces what you owe the seller if you exercise the option. Your ownership begins when title transfers.
Calculate the Final Purchase Funding
Subtract recognised credits from the option purchase price, then add costs still due at purchase. Subtract the expected loan to see how much cash you need. Apply your available savings to find the gap still to fund.
In the hypothetical example, 104 weekly payments of $600 total $62,400. Each qualifies for a $150 credit, so rent credits add up to $15,600. The $10,000 option fee also counts towards the price.
Total credits of $25,600 bring the $500,000 option price down to $474,400. With $15,000 of purchase costs and a $400,000 loan, you need $89,400 in cash. With $20,000 in additional savings, the remaining gap is $69,400.
Count fees already paid under the lease-option separately from costs still due at purchase. Use the mortgage deposit calculator to estimate the cash needed for a conventional purchase.
Read the Gap and Credit-Loss Exposure
The amount owed to the seller follows the contract. The lender separately assesses the property’s value, what counts towards your deposit and how much it can lend at the time. Suppose the lender values the home at $450,000 and limits the loan to $360,000. Cash needed rises to $129,400 while the option price stays at $500,000.
Use the qualifying payment count to model how missed or late payments affect your credits. If you pay all 104 weeks and only 80 qualify, the rent produces $12,000 in rent credits. With the option fee still credited, cash needed rises to $93,000. If the contract cancels all credits but still lets you buy, set qualifying payments to zero and select No for the option fee. Cash needed then rises to $115,000.
If you let the option lapse, unused credits no longer reduce a purchase price. Rent paid for occupancy stays spent. Whether you can recover any of the option fee, rent premiums or other fees depends on the refund terms and applicable protections. WA Consumer Protection’s rent-to-buy guidance explains the risk of losing payments after a missed payment.
An instalment sale has its own payment schedule. Ask a solicitor to confirm the payments due, refund rights and what happens on default before modelling that agreement separately.
