Rental Property: Keep or Sell?
For Canadian and American landlords. After-tax cashflow, keep-vs-sell projection, market rent check, and current mortgage rates. Free and private. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Mortgage Rates
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Lenders Near You
Monthly Income & Payments
Operating Assumptions
Market Rent Check (advanced)
Property & Loan Details (advanced)
Your Tax Profile (advanced)
Forward-Looking Assumptions (advanced)
Cashflow Today
Annual Tax Impact of the Rental
Your Equity & Return on Equity
Keep vs. Sell: After-Tax Wealth in Years
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About this calculator
"Should I keep my rental or sell it?" is really two questions: does the property pay for itself today, and would your equity earn more somewhere else? Simple mode answers the first: effective rent (after a vacancy allowance) minus operating costs and the mortgage payment, plus the breakeven rent you'd need to charge. Advanced mode answers the second: it estimates the tax the rental adds to (or saves on) your return, your after-tax return on equity, and a side-by-side projection of keeping for your chosen horizon versus selling now and investing the after-tax proceeds.
Keep-or-sell FAQ
What counts as "cashflow positive"?
Rent collected (after an allowance for vacancy) covers every monthly cost (mortgage principal and interest, property tax, insurance, condo fees, maintenance, management, and utilities you pay) with money left over. A property can be cashflow negative and still build wealth through mortgage paydown and appreciation, which is exactly what the Advanced keep-vs-sell projection weighs.
How does the keep-vs-sell comparison work?
The "keep" scenario grows the property at your appreciation rate, amortizes the mortgage, reinvests each year's after-tax cashflow at your alternative return, then subtracts selling costs and estimated sale tax at the end of the horizon. The "sell now" scenario pays today's selling costs and taxes, then compounds what's left at the same alternative return. Whichever projects more after-tax wealth "wins", but within a couple of percent it's genuinely a coin flip, and effort and diversification should decide.
What taxes apply when I sell a rental?
In the US, depreciation you claimed (or could have claimed) is generally recaptured at up to 25%, the remaining gain is taxed at long-term capital-gains rates, and state tax and NIIT can apply. In Canada, 50% of the capital gain is added to your income, and any CCA you claimed is recaptured in full. This tool approximates both, but sale-year tax is exactly where a CPA earns their fee. Exclusions like the US Section 121 or Canadian principal-residence exemption can change the answer dramatically for a former home.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. All calculations run in your browser and your inputs are never transmitted or stored. The only network calls are optional lookups (bank branches, reference data) that don't include your property numbers.