Sell or Rent Out Your Home Calculator 2026: the 3-year tax clock

Your home

Quick start

Everything else uses typical assumptions; open the groups below to change them.

Home value today what it would sell for

Mortgage

Balance

Rate

Years left

What you paid plus improvements your basis

Purchase price, buying costs and improvements such as a new roof or kitchen. Not repairs.

Month you move out

Years lived there

Expected rent per month

Filing status

Household income

Yearly, before tax. Sets your tax rates and the rental loss allowance.

Years to compare

yrs

Selling costs

Agent commission % of sale price

Other selling costs transfer tax, title, concessions

Renting costs

Vacancy % of rent; 5–8% is typical

Property management % of rent; 8–10%, 0 if you self-manage

Repairs % of rent; 5–8% is typical

Big-ticket replacements % of rent; roof, HVAC, floors; 8–12%

Landlord insurance per year

Property tax per year

HOA dues per month

Cost of each new tenant cleaning, paint, listing

A tenant stays about

yrs

Growth

Home price growth /yr; about 3–4% long run

Rent growth /yr

Cost growth /yr; insurance, tax, HOA

Taxes

Federal tax bracket blank = from your income

State income tax % ; 0 if none

Land share of value land isn't depreciated; 20% is common

I actively take part: I approve tenants, rents and repairs

If you sell now

The cash would earn /yr

Or enter your new mortgage rate if the cash would pay that down. Rental savings and shortfalls use the same rate.

Tax on that return % of it; 0 if paying down a loan

Later sale

Sell the rental in year blank = years to compare

What each path leaves you after tax, by year

Rent it out Sell now Tax-free sale deadline Rental sold

In future dollars. Until the sale year, "Rental if sold" is what you'd net selling at the end of that year.

Year-by-year home value, loan, rental cash flow, tax, depreciation and the after-tax value of each path
Year	Home value	Loan	Cash flow	Tax	Depreciation so far	Losses carried	Rental if sold	Rent it out	Sell now	Difference

What could go wrong

Rent it out minus sell now under each stress test, and the change from your numbers
Scenario	Compared in year	Result	Change

Next steps

What this leaves out

1031 exchanges. Once the home is a rental, you may be able to defer the whole gain, including recapture, by buying another rental. Talk to a tax professional before you sell.
State rules: landlord-tenant law, licensing, state tax on recaptured depreciation, and property tax reassessment when a home stops being your main home.
Short-term (Airbnb-style) rentals, which follow different loss rules.
A partial exclusion for a move forced by a job change, health or other unforeseen event.
The "nonqualified use" rule for rental periods before you moved in. The model assumes the home was your main home until you moved out.
Your lender's rules: many mortgages require you to live in the home for a year, and some lenders or insurers must be told when it becomes a rental.
The cost of the new home, and the 2026 senior deduction, credits and the alternative minimum tax.

See how the calculator works for every assumption.