Rent or Sell - Nashville, TN

[Matt Jones]

I have renovated and refinanced a home in Nashville, TN that has appreciated around $100K. I am planning to move out within1 year and unsure if I should sell or rent it out. Long term goal is to create enough passive income to get out of the rat race, however, the home was built in the 50’s and has been giving me a lot of maintenance issues recently (HVAC, plumbing, etc). My mortgage is $1200/month and I could rent it out for $2,000. If I sold in January, I would have owned the property for 2 years and would not have to pay capital gains. My long term mindset tells me to rent it out to create more passive income, but the other side of me is telling me since it is an older home it will have a lot more issues. I had an agent come to my house to tell me how much she would list it for & I would take around $100K cash in hand if I were to sell. What should I do?

[Grant Thompson]

Matt,

Its a bit hard to tell with the information provided, but i'd calculate the Cash on Cash return for renting the property out and see if that metric hits your target. If so, then renting out the property can help you start building passive income. Otherwise, potentially sell it and look to reinvest it in other opportunities that would better support your passive income goals.