Rent estimate · Redding and Shasta County

How much could your home rent for?

Enter your address for an instant rent estimate, then see whether keeping the home as a rental beats selling it when you buy your next place.

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Keep-or-sell math below

Keep it or sell it

The decision most move-up buyers never run the numbers on

Selling gives you the equity today. Keeping the home gives you a tenant paying down a mortgage you may have locked at a rate you will never see again. Here is how the two compare.

Keeping your home as a rental compared with selling it
	Keep it and rent it	Sell it
Cash now	None from this home; the down payment on the next one comes from savings, a HELOC or a cash-out refinance	Your equity minus selling costs, commonly 6 to 8 percent of the price
Each month	Rent minus the payment, taxes, insurance, maintenance and a vacancy allowance. Positive is the goal; break-even can still be worth it	Nothing owed, nothing earned
Your rate and taxes	Your current mortgage rate and your Prop 13 tax base both stay put, and the rental brings depreciation and expense write-offs	The buyer resets the tax base; you may exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 married) if you lived there two of the last five years
Qualifying for the next home	Lenders count 75% of the rent against this home's payment, with a signed lease and the deposit in hand	The old payment disappears and the equity is your down payment
The risk	Vacancy, repairs, a tenant who stops paying, and being a landlord thirty minutes from the property	Timing two closings, and giving up an asset that has been appreciating

Tax treatment depends on your situation; confirm it with your tax preparer. We can run the mortgage side of both columns with your real numbers.

Buying the next home while keeping this one

What a lender needs to count the rent

A signed lease and the deposit
To count rent from the home you are leaving, most lenders want a signed lease and proof the security deposit was received. Without a tenant yet, an appraiser's rent schedule can sometimes stand in.
75% of the rent
Lenders use three-quarters of the rent, the rest covering vacancy and upkeep, and set it against the home's full payment. If 75% of rent covers the payment, that home stops counting against you.
Reserves and the new payment
You still qualify for the new home on your income, and some programs want a few months of both payments in reserve. Run it before you fall for a house; we can pre-approve you against both.

The loans that make it work

Three ways to fund the next home without selling this one

DSCR investor loan

Qualifies on the rental itself: if the rent covers the payment, your personal income and tax returns stay out of it. Built for a second or third rental, and for self-employed owners whose returns understate what they earn.

DSCR loans

Cash-out refinance

Pull the down payment for the next home out of this one. Most lenders go to 80% of value on a home you will live in, less on one that has become a rental, so the order you do things in matters.

Cash-out refinance

HELOC

Keep your current rate and open a line of credit behind it for the down payment. Interest only on what you draw, and you can pay it down as the rental cash flow comes in.

HELOC

Can I buy another home and keep this one as a rental?

Usually, yes. You qualify for the new home on your income, with 75% of the expected rent set against this home's payment once you have a signed lease and the deposit. Some programs also want reserves for both homes. We pre-approve you against both payments so there is no surprise in escrow.

How much of the rent counts toward qualifying?

75% of the gross rent, on most conventional and FHA loans. The remaining 25% is the lender's allowance for vacancy and maintenance. A DSCR loan works differently: it qualifies the property on its own rent-to-payment ratio and does not look at your income at all.

What if the rent will not cover the payment?

Then the shortfall counts as a debt against you when you qualify for the next home, and you carry it each month. It can still be the right call if the home is appreciating and your rate is low, but go in with the number in front of you. Get a quote and we will run it.

Do I need different insurance for a rental?

Yes. A landlord policy replaces your homeowner's policy and commonly costs 15 to 25 percent more; in a fire zone, quote it before you decide. Your tenant carries renter's insurance for their own belongings. See our fire insurance guide for what drives premiums here.

How accurate is the rent estimate?

It comes from comparable rentals nearby, so it is closest in town and loosest on acreage or for unusual homes. Local property managers know the market to the dollar; ask two before you set a rent.

What happens to my taxes when I sell a home I've been renting?

The capital-gains exclusion of up to $250,000 ($500,000 married) needs you to have lived in the home two of the five years before the sale, so once you have rented it for more than three years it can lapse, and depreciation you took is recaptured. Talk to your tax preparer before the three-year mark.

I bought this home with a VA loan. Can I use VA again for the next one?

Often, yes. VA entitlement can be split, and many veterans buy the next home with the remaining entitlement while keeping the first as a rental. It depends on the loan amounts and the county limit; VA loans explains it, and we can check your entitlement in a few minutes.

Thinking about keeping it?

Let's run both columns with your real numbers.

Rent estimate, payment, the next home's approval, and the loan that funds it. One call with Pete. Call or text (530) 221-7700.

Get a quote What's my home worth?(530) 221-7700

How much could your home rent for?

The decision most move-up buyers never run the numbers on

What a lender needs to count the rent

A signed lease and the deposit

75% of the rent

Reserves and the new payment

Three ways to fund the next home without selling this one

DSCR investor loan

Cash-out refinance

HELOC

Questions about renting out your home

Let's run both columns with your real numbers.

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