Should You Rent Out Your Home or Sell It?

This interactive calculator helps homeowners decide whether to rent out their property or sell it and invest the proceeds. It compares your projected net worth under both scenarios across multiple time horizons.

What This Calculator Models

Sell scenario: Net proceeds after selling costs and taxes, invested in the stock market over your chosen time horizon.
Rent scenario: Property appreciation, rental income minus expenses, mortgage paydown, and the opportunity cost of tied-up capital.

Key Factors Considered

Home appreciation rates (-5% to +5% annually)
Rental income with vacancy and rent growth assumptions
Operating expenses: maintenance, insurance, property tax, HOA, utilities
Mortgage amortization and principal paydown
Section 121 capital gains tax exclusion timing
Depreciation tax benefits and recapture
Investment return comparison (opportunity cost)

How It Works

Enter your home's current value, expected monthly rent, and time horizon. The calculator runs both scenarios and shows you which path builds more wealth, with a sensitivity matrix showing how the answer changes under different appreciation and time assumptions.

What's your home worth?

What could you rent it for?

$/mo

How long would you hold?

Do you have a loan on this property?

Fill in the fields above to see your answer.

How this calculator works

This rent vs sell calculator compares two paths: selling your home and investing the proceeds, or renting it out and building wealth through appreciation, rental income, and mortgage paydown. It accounts for opportunity cost — what your equity could earn in the stock market — which most calculators ignore.

The model runs a full amortization schedule, tracks cash flow year by year, and includes selling costs, vacancy, maintenance, property tax, insurance, and capital gains tax (including Section 121 exclusion timing). You can adjust every assumption and see how the answer changes across different appreciation rates and time horizons.

Rent vs Sell Calculator — Should You Rent Out Your Home or Sell It?

How this calculator works