Sell or Keep the House Calculator

Use this calculator to compare the benefit of selling the house now or keeping it for longer.

This tool helps answer :

  1. Should I sell my house, paying the rent, or not sell it? What is the cost and benefit difference at the end?

  2. If I sell my house now and use the cash received to invest, can I accumulate more wealth than keeping the house?

The house I am keeping

Current property value
Original mortgage amount
Original loan term (years)
Mortgage rate
Loan start date
Monthly loan payment
Current loan balance
Monthly property income such as Airbnb, rent revenue.
Property value future growth   a year
Monthly mortgage insurance (PMI)
Property tax of your city
Your highest tax rate (for elective deductions)

What if I sell it and rent a place now?

Selling cost Normally the commission you need to pay to seller's agent and buyer's agent.
Monthly rent to pay The rent, pet fee, rental utilities, renters insurance.
Extra saving by renting The cost that you don't need to pay when renting, such as HOA, home maintenance, utilities, homeowner's insurance. Mortage payment, mortgage insurance (PMI), and property tax have been included above so don't add those here to avoid double count.
Rent inflation
Investment yield the expected return of investment when you invest the proceeds of selling the home.

What if I want to sell it later?

Keep now, sell after years at

Gain (+) or loss (-) of keeper and seller

Higher(+)/lower(-)
than immediate seller's

The wealth of the keeper who never sells
The wealth of the keeper who will sell at the end
The wealth of the immediate seller

Accumulated Wealth Over Time

Related Items

Mortgage selection and affordability calculators Mortgage refinance calculators To buy or rent a house analysis

Content created by

AlexCFA, FSA, FRM, MBA

Alex is a seasoned finance professional with over 15 years of experience in investment management, consulting, and financial technology. He began his career as a financial advisor and later led large-scale budgeting and risk management initiatives as an actuary and manager at KPMG and global insurance firms. He also brings extensive experience as both an investment analyst and a software engineer. Alex is a CFA® charterholder, Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), and Financial Risk Manager (FRM®). He holds an MBA from the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester.

Content published on 2024-06-01. Last reviewed and updated on 2025-09-26.