Should you sell or keep renting?

A full financial model comparing selling now versus renting and selling later. Mortgage, taxes, appreciation, and reinvestment, all in one place. Fill what you know, leave the rest blank.

Rent vs sell is rarely just a math question. It's a math question wrapped around a tax question wrapped around an opportunity-cost question. Selling now turns equity into a check, but it's a check that may be reduced by capital gains tax, transfer costs, and selling fees, and the net is then only worth what you can earn on it after tax. Renting keeps the asset working but introduces operating risk, vacancy, and a future sale that could land in a stronger or weaker market than today.

The biggest tax variable for most owners is the §121 primary-residence exclusion. If the home was your primary residence for at least 2 of the past 5 years, you can typically exclude $250,000 of gain ($500,000 if married filing jointly) when you sell. Convert it to a rental and start the clock ticking. Hold it as a rental for too long and you lose the exclusion, which can be the difference between a clean sale and a six-figure tax bill. The calculator's primary-residence toggle lets you see that swing directly.

On the rent side, the inputs that matter most are after-tax cash flow, appreciation, and the cost of a future sale. Cash flow is grounded in occupancy, PM fees, taxes, insurance, and maintenance. Appreciation compounds quietly across the hold period. The future sale carries selling costs, transfer taxes, and potential capital gains. Stack all of that against the after-tax reinvestment rate on today's sale proceeds and you get an honest, side-by-side comparison instead of a gut call.

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