Rent vs Sell Calculator: Should You Rent or Sell Your Property?

Making the decision between renting and selling your property is one of the most important choices property owners face, whether you’re a first-time homeowner or experienced real estate investor. Our comprehensive rent vs sell calculator helps you analyze the long term financial implications of both options, comparing potential rental income against immediate sale proceeds while considering factors like property appreciation, maintenance costs, and tax income benefits. This free property decision calculator works by evaluating all aspects of your real estate investment to help you make the right choice for your specific situation before signing a lease with tenants or listing your home for sale.

When Should You Use a Rent vs Sell Calculator?

  • Before signing a lease with tenants
  • When considering long term real estate investment strategies
  • To determine rent affordability and optimal pricing
  • When evaluating tax income implications of rental properties

Calculator

Home Value Enter how much you think the house would sell for - NOT the asking price

$
Zestimate

Price Paid Price paid

$

Original Mortgage Enter the amount of your original mortgage loan amount

$

Mortgage Balance Enter the current balance owed on your mortgage loan

$

Interest Rate Mortgage interest Rate
Enter the current interest rate on your loan

%

Mortgage Payment This amount is calculated automatically. If your actual Principal and Interest payment differs from this amount, add or subtract the difference in the next box

$

Mortgage Difference

$

Taxes, Ins, Comn Charges Enter the annual cost of property taxes, insurance and any common charges or association dues for your property.

$

Monthly Rent Enter or estimate the amount of monthly rent you can get for your property

$
Rent Zestimate

Appreciation Rate Enter the % of average annual home price increase/decrease you expect to realize over your holding period.
For current forecasts, see more

%

Years to Hold Enter a number between 1 and 50
This is your time horizon. i.e. I want to see if it's better to sell now or later, and the impact that this decision has on my wealth

Y

Show Advanced inputs

Make-Ready Costs Amnt spent on refurbishing - used in the capital gains tax calc

$

Mortgage Term Enter the term in months of your mortgage. Most mortgages are 360 months (30 years)

M

Transfer costs now Enter as a % of your sales price such costs as excise taxes, filing fees or other closing costs

%

Transfer costs later Enter as a % of your sales price estimated future costs such as excise taxes, filing fees or other closing costs

%

Prepayment Penalty There may be a loan prepayment penalty. Enter as a % of outstanding loan amount

%

Property Management Fee Enter as a % of annual rents the costs to manage your property. Professional management will insure better results in most cases.

%

Occupancy Rate Properties are rarely rented out 100% of the time. Often in between rentals, time is taken to redecorate, and to look for a new tenant.

%

Tax rate on rental "profit" (if any) If you have income from the rental it will be subject to taxation at your ordinary tax rate. Losses may be dedcutible also.

%

Effective Capital Gains Tax Any gain from sale will be taxed if property does not quality for primary residence exclusion.

%

Selling Costs Costs such as brokerage commsion or other selling costs as % of sales price.

%

fter tax re-investment rate Investment rate
Enter the rate of return you could have by investing in Bond/Shares OR if you have an outstanding loan, this is the loan rate assuming you use the proceeds from the sale of your property to pay off loans.

%

Annual Maintenance Costs Costs as a % of home value for repairs, upkeep, etc.

%

Annual Change in Rents Annual Change in Rents
Expected annual rent increases.

%

Show Instructions
  • Complete the input boxes as described. Once all required inputs are complete, the Rent vs Sell calculator will automatically calculate your answer.
  • Use the links when available to find the data requested if you don't already have that information.
  • Select the ? Icon next to the input label to learn more about the requested data.
  • Refresh the model to return all advanced inputs to default amounts.

How Our Rent vs Sell Calculator Works

This calculator works by comparing the long-term financial outcomes of renting versus selling your property. Simply input your property details, estimated rental income, and sale price to receive a detailed analysis.

Input values in the calculator on the left to get a quick read on the financial viability of renting or selling your house.

Note: The “Years to Hold” (whichever number of years you choose) is considered the year that the property would be sold. This raises the “Other Costs” in that year to show the client how much they would be paying to sell (selling costs, pay back depreciation, capital gains, etc.). Thus, the "Other Costs" increase significantly if a person were to sell their property in the chosen year.


If you (Rent/Sell Now) your property, you'll have $(value) more wealth in (year) years


Wealth
RentRent sellSell
Year
Rental Income
Mortgage Expense
Other Costs
Net Cash Flow
House Value
House Equity
Wealth (Rent)
Wealth (Sell Now)
Difference in Wealth
(Rent to Sell Now)
1 - - - - - - - - -

Disclaimer: This calculator is for illustrative purposes only. Please seek professional advice if needed.

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