About Torvani
Housing cost analysis, democratized
Torvani uses federal housing data from FHFA, Census ACS, BLS, and HUD combined with Monte Carlo simulation and NPV breakeven analysis to help you understand whether renting or buying is the better financial decision for your specific situation, market, and time horizon.
The Problem
Every year, millions of Americans make one of the largest financial decisions of their lives -- whether to rent or buy a home -- based on monthly payment comparisons alone. But monthly payments are only part of the story. Property taxes, maintenance costs, opportunity cost of the down payment, tax deductions, home appreciation, rent escalation, and insurance all factor into the true total cost. A home that looks affordable can be a financial trap, and a rental that feels like "throwing money away" can be the smarter choice.
Our Approach
We ingest metro-specific home appreciation rates from the FHFA House Price Index, rent growth data from BLS CPI Shelter, mortgage rates from Freddie Mac PMMS, property tax rates from Census ACS, and Fair Market Rents from HUD. For each scenario, we run a Monte Carlo simulation of 10,000 outcomes varying appreciation, rent escalation, maintenance costs, and investment returns. The result is a complete cost distribution and an NPV breakeven timeline -- not a single number, but a probability-weighted answer.
Our Values
Data Integrity
We use only authoritative federal data sources -- FHFA, Census ACS, BLS, Freddie Mac, HUD. Every estimate can be traced to published government datasets.
Accessible Intelligence
Housing cost analysis has been locked behind spreadsheets and financial advisors. We make the math accessible to every prospective homebuyer or renter.
Honest Assessment
We do not sugarcoat the answer. Our Monte Carlo simulations show the full distribution of outcomes so you understand both the expected case and the tail risks.
Developer-First
Every feature available to consumers is also available through our REST API. Build rent vs. buy analysis into your own real estate or fintech applications.
Part of Smart Technology Investments
Torvani is a product of Smart Technology Investments LLC, a research-driven company building decision intelligence tools that help consumers make better financial decisions using data that was always available but never accessible.
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