Rent Out vs Sell Calculator (Singapore, 2026)
This answers: “If I rent out for a few years, am I better off than selling now?” It’s a planning model — the goal is to force the right variables into the open.
Inputs
Notes: This assumes you keep the current loan structure (standard amortization). Taxes, insurance, and major repairs are simplified into “expenses”.
Results
Show breakdown (what this model is doing)
- Sell now: estimate cash proceeds (excluding CPF). Invest proceeds for the holding period.
- Rent out: each month, net rent cashflow is invested (or topped up if negative). At the end, sell: net proceeds = sale price − remaining loan − selling costs − CPF refund.
- End values are compared.
Key numbers
| Item | Value |
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Rent out vs sell: use scenarios, not one number
This model compares sell‑now‑and‑invest versus rent‑out‑then‑sell‑later. The correct decision is usually driven by: vacancy risk, net rent after expenses, and your property’s appreciation outlook.
Recommended scenarios
- Conservative: higher vacancy, higher expenses, lower appreciation.
- Base case: realistic rent and expenses, modest appreciation.
- Optimistic: strong rental demand, stable expenses, higher appreciation.
FAQ
Use flat only if your quote is explicitly a flat rate. If you have an APR/effective rate, use effective for a more direct comparison.
Banks may include fees differently, round instalments, or use different compounding conventions. Treat this as a planning model.
Use the period you realistically expect to hold the asset. If unsure, test 3, 5 and 10 years to see sensitivity.
Run a conservative scenario. If the decision still holds, it’s likely robust.
Worked example
Run one base case and one conservative case. For example, increase the key cost (rate/maintenance/vacancy) by 20% and reduce resale by 10%. If the winner stays the same, your decision is robust.
Using the calculator step by step
Use this to compare keeping a property as a rental vs selling it, based on rental yield, mortgage costs, and opportunity cost of capital. If you want to refine the assumptions before trusting the result, read Gross vs Net Rental Yield, Vacancy and Turnover Cost, Rental Agent Commission, and Lease Renewal vs New Tenant Cost.
- Enter expected rent, vacancy, and costs.
- Enter mortgage rate and remaining balance.
- Compare net cashflow vs sale proceeds you can redeploy.
Scenario library (sanity checks)
Use these simplified scenarios as sanity checks. Replace the numbers with your own situation.
- Example A (cashflow neutral):
Rent: $3,200/mo. Costs + mortgage: $3,100/mo. If net cashflow is tiny, the decision depends on capital appreciation and opportunity cost.
- Example B (negative cashflow):
Rent: $2,800/mo. Costs + mortgage: $3,500/mo. Selling may be cleaner unless you have strong reasons to hold.
Methodology & assumptions
- Rental income is uncertain; include vacancy and maintenance.
- Excludes taxes and special cases; verify with official guidance.
- Planning model; not financial advice.
Sometimes a slightly lower expected return from selling now is still the better choice because it buys simplicity and removes future uncertainty.
- How realistic is your vacancy assumption?
- Have you included agent fees, repairs, and frictional landlord costs?
- Would managing a rental fit your time and stress tolerance?
- Are you assuming gross yield or a more realistic net yield after vacancy, tax, maintenance, and turnover drag?
Things to check outside the model
It is useful when you already know you may keep the property only for a few years and want to understand whether collecting rent during that period meaningfully changes the economics versus selling now. It is also good for highlighting how much the result relies on occupancy and net rental yield rather than the headline rent alone.
What this page is especially good for
The easiest way to misuse this page is to treat the result as a single definitive answer. In reality, rent-out versus sell is highly sensitive to assumptions around rent, vacancy, expenses, and eventual exit price. That is why this page works best when you run several scenarios: conservative rent, base rent, and optimistic rent. If “rent out wins” only in the optimistic case, the decision is weaker than it first appears.
How to use the output without fooling yourself
Before acting on the result, ask whether the output still makes sense after a conservative stress test. Good calculator use is not about precision to the last dollar; it is about avoiding decisions that only work in the optimistic case. If the answer still holds after you use harsher assumptions, that is usually a sign the decision is robust enough to move forward.
Output checklist
Re-run the calculator whenever one of the major assumptions changes meaningfully: rate, tenure, resale value, rent, energy cost, or your expected holding period. Small updates to these inputs often matter more than trying to make the original run more precise.
When to re-run the model
Use the model to see which assumptions matter most. Then spend your energy validating those assumptions rather than polishing less important inputs.
Even a good calculator cannot fully price convenience, stress, optionality, or the value of keeping your finances simple. That is why the best use of a tool like this is to narrow the range of sensible choices, not to pretend it can replace judgement. When the result is close, qualitative factors deserve more weight.
What the calculator cannot decide for you
Use the model to see which assumptions matter most. Then spend your energy validating those assumptions rather than polishing less important inputs.
Even a good calculator cannot fully price convenience, stress, optionality, or the value of keeping your finances simple. That is why the best use of a tool like this is to narrow the range of sensible choices, not to pretend it can replace judgement. When the result is close, qualitative factors deserve more weight.
What the model leaves out
- Reading one “base case” as a certainty.
- Forgetting fees, taxes, or frictional costs that sit outside the neat formula.
- Using unrealistic tenure or holding-period assumptions.
- Comparing options that are not truly substitutes.
Common interpretation mistakes
- Reading one “base case” as a certainty.
- Forgetting fees, taxes, or frictional costs that sit outside the neat formula.
- Using unrealistic tenure or holding-period assumptions.
- Comparing options that are not truly substitutes.
Mistakes to avoid when reading the output
Run one optimistic case, one conservative case, and one “messy real life” case. The messy case is the most useful: slightly worse rates, slightly lower resale, slightly higher costs, and a shorter holding period than planned. If the decision still looks acceptable, you have a more resilient answer.
Quick scenario ideas
Try these practical cases before treating the output as a verdict.
- Strong sale proceeds, weak rental yield: selling may be better when the paper gain is attractive but recurring landlord friction is not.
- Decent rent, but meaningful holding drag: keep the property only if the rent still works after vacancy, maintenance, tax, and financing stress tests.
- Owner prioritising flexibility: even if renting out looks slightly better on paper, selling can still be the higher-quality choice when liquidity and simplicity matter more.
When the model says “keep” but selling may still be right
A calculator can show that renting out looks slightly better on paper without proving that holding is the better life-quality decision. If the expected advantage is thin, you should still ask whether the gain survives vacancy, repairs, admin burden, financing stress, and your own willingness to operate as a landlord. A narrow numerical win is often not enough to justify a fragile hold decision.
This is where gross vs net rental yield matters. If the keep case only looks attractive at the gross level, the calculator result is probably flattering the hold option. The more the decision depends on clean assumptions and uninterrupted rent, the more cautious you should be.
Use the result as a sequencing tool, not a verdict
The strongest use of this page is to sequence the next two questions. First: does renting out still look acceptable after realistic drag? Second: if selling looks cleaner, what actually remains after loan, CPF, and transaction friction? That is why this calculator works best alongside sell property cost and the sell property proceeds calculator.
That sequence stops you from making the opposite mistake as well. Some owners jump to selling because they dislike landlord friction, but never check whether the net sale outcome is actually strong enough to improve the household balance sheet meaningfully. A good calculator should narrow the decision, not replace judgment.
References
Last updated: 28 Mar 2026