Rent vs Sell Calculator
Weigh selling your property now and reinvesting the proceeds against renting it out and selling later. The model includes your mortgage, appreciation, rent growth, operating costs, and capital-gains tax.
Over 10 years
- Sell now (reinvested)
- $393,826
- Rent then sell
- $505,823
- Net if sold now
- $241,775
- Cumulative cash flow
- $15,562
- Future net sale
- $490,261
- Breakeven year
- Year 1
Verdict
Renting then selling wins by $111,997
Frequently asked questions
Should I sell my house or rent it out?
It depends on your equity, mortgage rate, local rent, expected appreciation, and taxes. This calculator projects both paths over your holding period — selling now and reinvesting the proceeds versus renting and selling later — and shows which comes out ahead and by how much.
What is the §121 capital gains exclusion?
If a home was your primary residence for at least two of the last five years, IRS Section 121 lets you exclude up to $250,000 of capital gain ($500,000 if married filing jointly) when you sell. The calculator applies it to the sell-now path, and to the rental path only for short holds where you’d likely still qualify.
Does this account for depreciation recapture?
Not currently — to keep the estimate simple it excludes depreciation recapture, which can add tax when you sell a property you’ve rented and depreciated. For a precise after-tax picture, review the results with your CPA.
How accurate is this calculator?
It’s a planning estimate driven by your assumptions about rent growth, appreciation, and costs. Small changes to those inputs can flip the verdict, so use it to understand the trade-offs — then ask us for a current Central Oregon rent projection to ground the rental side.
Want the numbers for your actual property?
These calculators use your assumptions. For a real estimate grounded in current Central Oregon lease data — Bend, Redmond, Sisters, Prineville, and beyond — request a free, no-obligation rental analysis.
More free tools
- ROI Calculator — Model monthly cash flow, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return on a rental purchase.
- Cap Rate Calculator — Turn rent and operating expenses into NOI and a cap rate to compare properties.