We own our current home outright in a nice suburban area with desirable schools. Property taxes will drop by 70% in 2027 due to my age and tax laws of the county that we live in (out of state). We can easily sell the home for $750k currently, but could have sold it easily for $850k 12-18 months ago. Home needs no updates or significant repairs.

We plan to downsize and move less than 2 hours away from our current home. We don't need the proceeds from a sale of the current house to acquire a home at the new location or fund our current lifestyle.

Should we just sell the current home, accept the lower sales proceeds, and be done with it? Or should we consider renting the home until the market rebounds? I think we could rent the current home for $40-$50k/yr.

We have never been involved in rental property, so I appreciate any insights/opinions.

What is your tax basis? If you rent it out and then sell it, you'll pay capital gains tax.

IMO, this is a price point that is still seeing good activity and if good schools, good location, good house, this should move well. Your target buyer is way less affected by interest rates and other economic factors. However, I would wait until it is a more active sales season, like end of March/Early April as your list date.

Like another poster said, no need to be a Landlord this late in your career IMO.

Unless you want to be a landlord, I would list it for sale in the spring selling season and move on.

Sure, if you hold onto it, you may make a little more money but you have to ask yourself if it's worth the hassle, especially if you didn't set out to be a landlord.

Maybe you've already considered these things, but what does "until the market rebounds" mean to you? How long is the "until" part, and what if it is prolonged longer than you thought?

Are you going to landlord from 2 hours away? Plenty of people do, but it has challenges. You probably have a good network of AC/electrical/plumbing people already, but I always prefer to be around when they're working and make sure they have fixed whatever before they leave. Even if you rarely use them, I'd wager you'll find yourself using them more when renting out the house. The tenant will run that AC 24 hours a day in summer, they'll put all kinds of crap in the garbage disposal, etc. Also factor in potential wear and tear on carpets and walls. A one-month deposit doesn't repair all that much.

What does your property tax bill and homeowner's insurance bill look like? That $50k/year rental income becomes $35-40k pretty quick here in Texas after tax/insurance. None of this means not to do it, but just make sure you're satisfied with all the answers. But personally, for a 4-5% return and no guarantee your principal is going to be worth more in 1-2 years, I'd probably skip the hassle and "invest" it somewhere safer.

MS08 said:

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IMO, this is a price point that is still seeing good activity and if good schools, good location, good house, this should move well. Your target buyer is way less affected by interest rates and other economic factors. However, I would wait until it is a more active sales season, like end of March/Early April as your list date.

Like another poster said, no need to be a Landlord this late in your career IMO.

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so a buyer who is likely borrowing ~$600K is "way less affected" by interest rates than someone borrowing $300K? I'm not sure I agree.

$750K in a nice suburb isn't a mansion, so I don't know where this presumption came that the buyer pool is all wealthy people paying cash. It's usually families that are stretching for good schools and safe neighborhoods. They definitely care about interest rates.

I appreciate everyone's responses and insights. I was 80+% in the "sell it & move on" camp, and your comments cemented that decision. Thanks again.