Should You Sell Your House or Rent It Out?

Selling converts equity into cash today, minus roughly 6% to 10% in selling costs. Renting keeps the asset, generates monthly income, and defers those costs — while adding a job: tenants, maintenance, vacancy, insurance, and management.

The honest comparison is not "rent check versus mortgage payment." It is net proceeds invested elsewhere versus the total return of holding: cash flow, principal paydown, appreciation, and tax treatment, less the risk and the work.

Selling usually wins when you need the equity for your next purchase, when rent would not cover the mortgage, taxes, insurance, and a maintenance reserve, when the home is far from where you will live, or when you are approaching the end of the primary-residence window that supports the capital gains exclusion.

High-maintenance properties and hot seller's markets both push in the same direction.

Renting can win when the mortgage carries a rate well below current market, when rents comfortably exceed total carrying costs with margin for vacancy and repairs, when the local rental market is strong and the area is appreciating, or when you may return to the home.

It only works if you underwrite it honestly: budget vacancy, capital expenditures, and management even if you plan to self-manage.

Do not decide on instinct. Calculate your net proceeds from selling — sale price minus payoff, commissions, and closing costs — then calculate rental performance: cap rate, cash-on-cash return, and monthly cash flow after all expenses.

Compare the sale proceeds invested at a realistic return against the rental's projected total return. Whichever wins by a meaningful margin, after adjusting for effort and risk, is your answer.

Field Net handles the sell-side: your exact net proceeds, with state-specific closing costs included. For the rental side, Field ROI models cap rate, cash-on-cash return, and monthly cash flow so you can compare like with like.