If you’re thinking about moving to either upgrade, downsize, relocate, or for any other reason, you might be wondering if you should sell your home or rent it out.
Whatever your reason for moving, trying to figure out what to do with your current home can get confusing. Depending on several factors such as your local housing market and your financial situation, renting it out might be better than selling it, or vice versa.
Things to Consider When Renting Out Your Home
Let’s look at several factors to consider before deciding to rent out your home.
1. Will Renting Out Your Home be Profitable?
To determine if renting out your home is profitable, you need to add up all the expenses and deduct them from the money you’ll make, including the tax breaks you will get.
Expenses can include:
- Insurance: Insurance costs increase annually
- Mortgage: Include both the interest and the principal into the calculation
- Repairs: Repairs are inevitable, so keep this in mind
- HOA fees: This may or may not apply to your situation
- Real Estate Taxes:
- Commissions: Will you be paying a real estate agent to rent your property out?
- Vacancies: Your home might not stay occupied at all times
- Advertising: Consider the costs when advertising your property if you don’t use a real estate agent
- Miscellaneous: Minor expenses can include credit checks you will need to do on tenants
2. Do You Want to be a Landlord?
Being a landlord can often be stressful, dealing with tenants who don’t pay rent on time or needing to keep up with the maintenance on your home. Hiring a property manager can help you avoid the stress, but they come at a cost – usually about 10% of your rental income.
The costs come when a tenant moves out and repairs that will need to get done. You can’t guarantee your tenants will take proper care of your home, no matter how nice they are.
3. Is Your Move Permanent?
Relocating and renting your home out can give you security as you know you can return in the future. There are costs involved when you sell your home and buy another, so renting your home out can work out cheaper if you know you’ll be returning.
Not selling your home gives you options for the future if you are unsure of your plans. The choice to rent out your home or sell it can often be about life decisions and not about finances.
4. Don’t Forget About Property Taxes
Renting out a property can give you excellent cash flow, but tax consequences need to get considered. Rental income gets taxed at your ordinary tax rate, but you can get some of the costs written off if you incurred rental expenses.
Along with regular expenses getting deducted, you can also claim a deduction on your property’s depreciation. If you need more information regarding your property and taxes, speak to a tax consultant.
Things to Consider When Selling Your Home
Let’s take a look at the factors to consider before deciding to sell your home.
1.) You Can Walk Away After the Sale
Every burden you can think of when renting out property disappears when you sell your home. Selling your home also comes with some stress, but once that check is in your hand, you can move on immediately.
Another factor to consider is if you move to another state or even out of the country. If you have tenants, you can expect calls in the middle of the night expecting you to deal with rental problems.
2.) You Can Avoid a Down Market
Even though the market is unpredictable, avoiding a drop in the market can allow you to produce as much profit as possible from the sale of your home. This decision will come down to your personal preference and how you feel the market will go in the coming years.
3.) You’ll Have a Sizeable Down Payment for Your Next Home
One of the main reasons homeowners sell their homes instead of renting them out, is to have enough money to put down as a downpayment on their next home. You get put into a better financial position with a down payment, and you will have options to buy a home in an area you love.
4.) Say Goodbye to Tenant Problems!
Selling your home means you can avoid being a landlord and prevent your home from potentially getting destroying by tenants. You also get to avoid maintenance and repair costs.
Rent to Own
Sometimes having to decide between selling your home or renting it out can be too difficult, or you feel like you don’t want to be hast with your decision. If this is the case, you can offer your tenant the option of renting your home with the possibility of buying it from you at a later stage.
This could be the perfect decision for you, especially if your tenant is serious about potentially buying your home in the future.
Skip the Hassles and Headaches and Sell Your Home for Cash
If you would prefer to sell your home, consider selling it for cash, as is. We will buy your house in any condition in Massachusetts.
You get to avoid open houses, repairs, fees, commissions, or the time waiting to get your home sold. We will make you an offer that you can take or reject, and there are no obligations!
If you would like to sell your home fast, be sure to contact us! You can also call or text us at 781-309-7085, and we will call you back within 24 hours.