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Should I rent out my house or sell it?
Moving out? Compare selling now with renting the house out and selling later: what each leaves you with, the monthly cash flow as a landlord, the date the tax-free sale runs out, and the depreciation tax that comes with renting.
Your house
Selling now
Assumption, not a sourced figure: commission, transfer taxes and closing costs together; commissions are negotiable and vary. Change it to match your situation.
Applied to a later sale too, grown with expenses.
Renting it out
ASSUMPTIONS INSIDEWhat similar homes nearby rent for, not the asking price of the best one.
Assumption, not a sourced figure: about 18 days a year empty. Change it to match your situation.
Assumption, not a sourced figure: routine repairs. Change it to match your situation.
Assumption, not a sourced figure: roof, HVAC and appliances, saved monthly. Change it to match your situation.
Assumption, not a sourced figure: cleaning, painting and leasing, averaged. Change it to match your situation.
Assumption, not a sourced figure: on rent collected; some managers also charge leasing fees. Change it to match your situation.
A landlord policy usually costs more than a homeowner's; ask your insurer for the difference.
Growth and timing
ASSUMPTIONSAssumption, not a sourced figure: nobody can forecast this. Change it to match your situation.
Assumption, not a sourced figure: yearly. Change it to match your situation.
Assumption, not a sourced figure: tax, insurance, upkeep. Change it to match your situation.
Assumption, not a sourced figure: what the sale money would earn instead. Change it to match your situation.
Both choices are compared at this point. Defaults to 3: the tax-free window closes just before three years after moving out.
Tax
FEDERALExclusion: $250,000.
As your main home, ending when you move out.
The day it stops being your main home.
Your adjusted basis. Improvements add to it; repairs do not.
Assumption, not a sourced figure: land is not depreciable; your property tax bill often splits land and building. Change it to match your situation.
Sets the capital gains bracket. Left blank: gains at 15% and recapture at the 25% maximum.
Add the home's value, your mortgage, the rent it would fetch, what you paid for it, how long you lived there and when you move out. The assumptions are already filled in; change any of them.
Buying again with VA?
If this house has a VA loan and you keep it, the entitlement it uses stays tied up, which can limit a no-down-payment VA loan at your next home.
All four happen in your browser. Your figures are not sent anywhere — the email opens in your own mail app, already filled in.
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Weigh no money down and no PMI against the VA funding fee.
Should I rent or buy?
Compare the true cost of renting and buying over 5, 10, and 30 years.