Should I rent my home or sell it?

Should I rent my home or sell it? That is a great question! And it is an individual question. Do you have any equity? Do you need the cash for your next endeavour, down payment, relocation, or not have any equity at all? What are your goals?

If you desperately need the cash, then sell.

If you do not need the cash or have very little, then put the property up for rent. By renting the property, you have the ability to buy more time (3-5 years) and watch teh market come back. You will also continue to get a tax writeoff. If owning multiple homes was a bad idea, then Donald Trump and a few other millionaires would not do it! You may also get monthly positive cash flow from the property - that's almost free money. I will be buying my 4th property to keep this month. I am purchasing it at a $100,000 discount from what it sold last year. And I will rent it out for a positive $300 per month. The extra $300 per month will be applied toward the principal balance of the loan to pay it off faster. This is called building wealth.

If you're not quite sure of what to do, then DO BOTH! It's kind of like fishing.....the more hooks you have in the water, the better the chance you have to get a bite! You can be very selective and if the right tenant comes along, then take them. Otherwise, you've got the other chance that someone comes along with the right offer to purchase. They may even want to do a lease with option to buy (that's a whole new trick or topic to cover in a separate blog post).

I lastly recommend to speak with a CPA or your accountant. Depending on your financials, this will help with your decision making. Ask an agent how much you may lease your property for? Over a long period, real estate values grow at an estimate of 5% per year. (this is from statistical numbers show before but is no guarantee).