Figures are illustrative, not a valuation or forecast. Replace every assumption with your own estimates. Expand both sections to review expenses and sale taxes before comparing.
Property, loan and timeline
Rental expenses and vacancy
Keep taxes and insurance separate from principal and interest to avoid counting escrow twice. The $350 monthly management example is editable and is not a universal price. Review pricing.
Growth, selling costs and tax estimates
Enter sale-tax dollar estimates from a tax adviser for each sale date, including any applicable capital gains or depreciation recapture tax. Zero is a placeholder, not a tax estimate. Tax is not calculated from equity.
Assumptions: fixed rent and operating expenses, fixed loan interest rate, no refinancing, and annual compounding of sale proceeds. Rental cashflow stays uninvested; negative cashflow requires your funding. No rental tax benefits, investment taxes, inflation, or financing costs for cash shortfalls are included. A sale-today shortfall is shown as required funding without investment growth. Returns and property values can fall.
Your comparison
Review your inputs and select Compare Options. Editing an input clears the previous result.
Free Rental Analysis
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Calculator methodology and assumptions
Published by Century 21 Accent Homes. Methodology updated October 15, 2026. This is a simplified comparison of two scenarios at the same future date, using the inputs you enter. No account or contact details are needed to calculate.
- Sell today: current value minus the mortgage balance, selling costs and your estimated sale tax gives net sale proceeds. Positive proceeds compound at your chosen annual investment return for the comparison period. A negative balance is a funding shortfall and earns no modeled return.
- Rent: annual rent equals monthly rent × 12 × (1 − vacancy percentage ÷ 100). Annual operating expenses add property taxes, insurance, HOA dues, maintenance, management and the renewal/turnover budget. Rent and these expenses stay fixed across the period.
- Loan payments: each month, interest is calculated on the remaining balance at the annual rate ÷ 12. The model applies the principal-and-interest payment, stops at payoff and deducts actual modeled payments from rental cashflow. Keep escrow out of this payment because taxes and insurance are entered separately.
- Future sale: property value compounds at the chosen annual change. Deduct the remaining loan balance, selling costs and the separate future-sale tax estimate. Add rental cashflow after loan payments and the one-time setup/leasing cost to get the rental scenario total.
- Compare: rental scenario total minus invested sale proceeds is the displayed difference. Existing equity is included in both totals. A positive difference favors the rental scenario only under the entered assumptions.
What is outside this model: rent and expense inflation, loan refinancing, itemized tax benefits, income tax on rental cashflow or investment earnings, reinvestment of rental cashflow, the timing of repair spending, and a discount rate for future cashflows. The sale-tax fields are user-supplied amounts; a zero placeholder does not establish a tax exemption. This is not a valuation, tax calculation or recommendation.
Run a lower-rent or longer-vacancy scenario and change appreciation, repair costs and both sale-tax estimates before deciding. Negative rental cashflow needs funding even when the eventual scenario total is positive. Get property-specific estimates and professional advice where needed.
Reference: Century 21 Accent Homes, “Rent vs. Sell Calculator,” methodology updated October 15, 2026. Direct link to this methodology. Keep the input assumptions with any saved result so another person can reproduce it.
Worked example: the illustrative starting figures
A $500,000 home with a $300,000 loan at 6% and $2,100 monthly principal and interest is compared over five years. Rent is $2,500/month with 5% vacancy. Annual taxes are $5,000, insurance $1,500, maintenance $1,200 and turnover $1,000; management is $350/month and HOA dues are $0. Setup costs are $2,500. Property value grows 3% annually, invested proceeds grow 5%, sale costs are 6% at either date, and both sale-tax placeholders are $0.
Using those inputs, selling today leaves $170,000, growing to $216,968. Renting leaves a loan balance of $258,138 and future net sale proceeds of $286,721. Annual rent after vacancy is $28,500 and annual operating expenses are $12,900 before loan payments. Adding -$50,500 in cashflow after setup gives $236,221 at the horizon. Change the inputs above to see how your comparison differs.
How to decide whether to rent or sell
Selling may fit an owner who needs equity for another purchase, wants less exposure to one property, or cannot fund repairs and vacancies. Renting may fit an owner who can hold through weaker markets, maintain cash reserves, and wants the option to use or sell the property later. Neither appreciation nor occupancy is guaranteed.
Compare a lower rent, longer vacancy, major repair and falling property values before deciding. Review HOA rental rules, lender and insurer requirements, and the practical demands of managing from a distance. Ask a tax adviser to estimate both sale dates; occupancy history and renting can change the tax outcome.
For the next step, review management pricing, our Northern Virginia property management cost guide, and services for rental owners. For a property in Alexandria, use our Alexandria property management guide to review local preparation and handoff questions.