Sell vs Rent Your Home

Home exterior representing the decision to sell or convert a primary residence into a rental property

Sell vs Rent Your Home

Compare the long-term financial and risk tradeoffs of keeping your home as a rental versus selling it now.

This tool frames tradeoffs and scenarios. It does not provide financial, legal, or tax advice.

Why this decision is hard

This decision is rarely just about numbers. Rent expectations, maintenance reality, market timing, and how long you hold the property all interact in ways that aren’t obvious at first. Small changes in assumptions can flip the outcome. This tool helps you explore those tradeoffs so you can understand what must go right—and what could go wrong—before deciding.

Inputs

Start with the basics. You can expand advanced assumptions if you want more precision.

1) Property Basics
What you believe the property would realistically sell for today. Why this matters: This anchors both your sale proceeds and the implied price you are “paying” to keep the property as a rental.
Your current loan balance. Why this matters: Equity drives both your liquidity if you sell and your leverage if you keep the property.
Includes agent fees, closing costs, and prep. Why this matters: Selling costs create a real hurdle that rentals must overcome.
Default assumption (if unknown): 8%
2) Rental Income & Operating Costs
What you could realistically collect—not best case. Why this matters: Rent assumptions are the most common source of overly optimistic outcomes.
Expected vacancy/turnover allowance. Why this matters: Even strong rentals experience turnover.
Default assumption (if unknown): 5%
Enter 0% if you will self-manage. Why this matters: Management trades time and risk for cost.
Ongoing repairs and longer-term replacements. Why this matters: Deferred maintenance is a silent destroyer of returns.
Default assumption (if unknown): 8%
Use your current combined annual total as a starting point. Why this matters: Fixed costs reduce resilience during lean periods.
3) Financing Details
Your existing mortgage interest rate. Why this matters: Low-rate debt can materially improve rental outcomes.
Approximate years remaining on the loan. Why this matters: Amortization affects cash flow and equity growth.
4) Time Horizon
How long you realistically expect to keep the property if rented. Why this matters: Time is often the deciding variable.
5) Assumptions & Stress Factors (Advanced)
Long-run home value growth assumption. Why this matters: Equity growth can dominate outcomes over longer horizons.
Expected rent increases over time. Why this matters: Rent growth improves resilience and future cash flow.
What you believe you could earn on sale proceeds if you sell. Why this matters: Selling assumes your equity does not sit idle.

Results

Plain-language summary

Enter your numbers and click Calculate to generate a base-case comparison.

Key figures (base case)

Metric Sell Rent
Ending net worth at hold period — —
Net proceeds (today) — n/a
Average annual cash flow (rental) n/a —
Approx. breakeven year vs rent —

What drives the outcome

  • Selling costs create an immediate hurdle
  • Rent realism and maintenance assumptions dominate cash flow
  • Time horizon often decides the winner

Good decisions come from understanding tradeoffs—not predicting the future.

Scenario stress tests
These buttons temporarily adjust your assumptions to test robustness. “Lower alt return” reduces your current Alt Return value by 40%. Click “Reset stress” to restore your original inputs.