OwnerDelta Creating clarity for big money decisions

Rent vs Sell Calculator

Keep it, rent it, or sell it?

Know in 60 seconds whether renting the home beats selling and investing the proceeds. Simple on top. Rigorous all the way down.

Property & loan

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%
Years left on the loan

Rental income & costs

Monthly rent you could charge

Market & investment

Years you’d keep the property if you rent it out
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Advanced assumptions

Optional details. We pick sensible defaults so you can skip this whole section if you want.

Property & loan (detail)

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% of purchase that was land (typical ~20%)

Rental costs (detail)

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%
%
% of rent for repairs and reserves
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% of rent (0 if you manage yourself)
Planning reserve for make-ready and re-leasing

Sale assumptions

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%
Gain above this can still be taxed. Depreciation taken while renting is still taxed as recapture in this model.
%
Used for after-tax rental cash flow. Depreciation recapture at sale uses 25% in this model.

Market (detail)

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Scenarios restore in this browser automatically. Copy link puts your inputs in the URL so you can share — nothing is uploaded to OwnerDelta.

Verdict

Your comparison

Enter your numbers to see which path comes out ahead.

Sell now path —
Rent, then sell —

What moves the answer

The 3–5 factors that matter most for your numbers.

    Wealth over time

    Total value is your full net-worth path (home equity plus reinvested cash, or the invested sale portfolio). Liquid cash is cumulative cash wealth on both paths — rental cash is reinvested at the same “investment return if you sell” rate, and the sell path compounds that same rate.

    View:
    What-if ranges Coming soon

    Sensitivity will show how the verdict shifts if appreciation, rent growth, or your invest-if-you-sell return move by about ±1–2 points — without re-entering the whole form.

    Audit: year-by-year detail

    1. Sell now

    If you check the home-sale exclusion, we subtract a $250k or $500k-style cap from gain (after any depreciation recapture). Educational sketch only — not tax advice.

    Scenario What this shows

    2. Keep as rental

    Sale proceeds only show in the last year. Annual cash flow is after tax; wealth totals reinvest that cash at your investment/reinvestment return, then add the sale in the final year.

    Scenario What this shows

    3. Home value & equity

    Scenario What this shows

    Side-by-side wealth

    Liquid cash — cumulative cash wealth ($k). Both paths compound at your “investment return if you sell” rate. The rent path’s last year also adds net sale proceeds.
    Total value — full net-worth path ($k): sell path = invested proceeds; rent path = equity + reinvested cash, then sale + cash in the final year. This is what the verdict uses.

    Trust

    How this works

    Every assumption is visible and editable. Here is the short version; the full write-up is for sharp readers.

    In the model

    • Fixed-rate loan + holding-period sale on both paths
    • After-tax rental cash flow (marginal rate + 27.5-yr depreciation)
    • Sale tax with optional $250k/$500k-style exclusion and 25% recapture
    • Rental cash reinvested at the same rate as sell-path proceeds
    • Landlord costs: vacancy, maint/CapEx, management, HOA, utilities, turnover

    What we don’t model

    • State income tax, NIIT, or a full IRS return
    • Refinances, HELOCs, or variable-rate loans
    • 1031 exchanges or entity structures
    • Sensitivity ranges (coming later)

    Privacy & disclaimer

    Your inputs stay in this browser by default. Share links encode the scenario in the URL only when you copy them — no account required. This is an educational planning estimate — not financial, tax, or legal advice.

    Full methodology →