Rent my house or sell it?

[Derrick O.]

Getting ready to build a larger home . Do I sell, or rent out my current residence ? 

[Michael Wagner]

Now we can make some progress:)!

This is very rough math but looks like a sale will net you about $50K. SO the question becomes, would the Return on LEaving this invested be better than your other options.

If you rent for $1100 and use the ROUGH 50% rule (yours would likely be less as it is new and SFH) so lets go with 30% expenses to be specific to your case. $330 will be eaten up by operating expenses. You will be left with $270 per month or roughly $3200 in profit after debt and operations. Thats a 6.4% return annually on your $50K. But that doesnt account for debt paydown or appreciation or tax consequences. SInce you've lived in it as a primary you wouldnt have a big tax burden on a sale and could take the money and invest elsewhere likely for more than that 6.4% return. Plus a pool in a rental is bad news. Whos gonna maintain it.....? And thats a box of liability that I wouldnt want to mess with personally.

Even more convincing to me, is the fact that everything has been made pretty in the last year or so.  Carpets and floors will need to be replaced after a tenant or two eating into your profits.  The good news is that those same improvements will likely make for a quick sale for you at a better than average price for the market.

Just my two cents but I say sell, take the money and buy an Intentional investment.  You did great to have your primary residence make you money but Im sensing that you might be trying to "turn" it into a different kind of investment (rental as apposed to appreciation play) and it might not be best suited for that.  Hopefully others will chime in with other opinions.  Be sure to keep us posted!

All the Best!