Should You Sell Your House or Rent It Out When Moving? 5 Considerations

Moving comes with a deceptively simple question that can shape both lifestyle and finances for years: keep the current home as a rental or sell it and move on? In this episode of Selling Greenville, the discussion stays practical and local—zero fluff, just what matters when deciding between selling and renting in the Upstate. The guidance is grounded in real-world rental experience (across short-term, single-family, multi-family, and Section 8) and framed around five clear questions anyone can use to make a confident choice.

Should You Sell Your House or Rent It Out When Moving?

Before diving in, there’s one important assumption: this decision framework applies when a buyer can be pre-approved for the next home with or without selling the current residence. If selling is required to qualify, the answer is obvious—sell. Don’t let the idea of becoming a landlord block the move your life actually needs.

With that out of the way, the episode proposes five questions that consistently clarify whether to sell or rent.

1) Long-Term Rental or Short-Term Rental?

The first fork in the road: are you imagining a long-term rental (a year or more) or a short-term rental (anything from a single night up to a few months)?

• Short-term rental (e.g., Airbnb/VRBO): Expect furnishings, style decisions, and higher ongoing overhead. Property management often runs 15–25% of revenue. Owners foot the bill for utilities (electric, water, etc.), which can spike because guests don’t manage costs like owners do. Wear-and-tear shifts to furniture and décor, and foot traffic is high.

• Long-term rental (annual): Management is typically lower cost (often under 10% or even flat-fee structures), utilities are usually tenant-paid, and furnishings aren’t required. Wear-and-tear shifts from sofas to the house itself—expect the kind of maintenance that comes from daily life, extended stays, and “lived-in” use.

There isn’t a universal “better,” but the operational realities differ dramatically. If the thought of outfitting, marketing, and constantly turning a place makes your eye twitch, long-term may match your sanity. If the home is in a particularly attractive pocket and you’re open to higher touch operations, short-term can pencil—just be sure you’re counting all of the overhead.

2) Is This Actually the Best Property to Rent?

A common assumption is, “I know this house, so it’s the best rental for me.” The episode pushes back on that. In the Upstate, multi-family tends to outperform single-family for long-term cash flow. Even a seemingly “high-end” single-family home can end up competing in a lower rent tier simply because Greenville is relatively affordable to buy; many households that can qualify for a mortgage choose ownership over paying premium rent.

Location is pivotal. “Prime” for rentals means near downtown Greenville on strong streets with surrounding values to match. Outside that, single-family rents are often limited by neighborhood comps. In other words, the home you live in may not be the most efficient income asset.

Sometimes it’s smarter to sell the current home and purchase a different property that rents better (for example, a multi-family) with the proceeds—especially if maximizing monthly income, doors, and durability of demand are the goals.

3) Do You Understand the Full Financial Ramifications?

Landlording looks different on a spreadsheet than it does in a primary residence.

• Insurance: Owner-occupied rates are not rental rates. Expect higher premiums for long-term rentals and even higherpremiums for short-term rentals.

• Property Taxes: In the Upstate, shifting from owner-occupied to non-owner-occupied typically means taxes triple. If taxes and insurance are escrowed, your monthly payment will increase accordingly.

• Maintenance & Turn Costs: Maintenance is constant, and security deposits rarely cover the full cost to make a home rent-ready after move-out. Budget realistically.

• Utilities (short-term): You pay them. And guests often treat the thermostat like a suggestion.

• Selling Later (Capital Gains / 1031 mechanics): Sell a primary home, and there’s typically no capital gains. Sell an investment later, and capital gains usually apply unless you defer via a 1031 exchange, which requires buying another investment property within strict timelines. There are nuances if you recently lived in the home, but the practical takeaway is this: once it becomes a rental, selling later is a tax decision, not just a market decision.

If you’ve never owned a rental, these changes can surprise you. The episode’s advice is simple: run the full numbers, not just “rent minus current mortgage.”

4) Are You Bringing Sentimental Value Into a Business Decision?

Sentimental value is real. If the home holds deep family memories, there’s nothing wrong with choosing to keep it—even at a financial trade-off. But understand the trade-off:

• Tenants won’t share your memories. They’ll live in the house. That means scuffs, leaks, surprises, and calls—normal to them, personal to you.

• Renting to friends or family often feels safe, but it can create drama. Discounts and expectations blur lines; enforcement becomes awkward; and you may end up protecting the relationship at the expense of the asset.

If sentiment is the driver, own that truth and plan for the stress. If not, evaluate like an investor: will this particular house cash flow well after taxes, insurance, management, maintenance, and vacancy?

5) Is Appreciation Here “Tremendous,” “Average,” or “Below Average”?

Not all appreciation is created equal. The neighborhoods closest to downtown Greenville (think North Main, Parkins Mill, Overbrook, and adjacent pockets) have seen tremendous year-over-year growth in the past decade. Many other areas run average appreciation (often in the 6–7% range), and some farther-out locales trail even that.

Why it matters: if you’re keeping a home primarily for appreciation, make sure it’s truly in a high-growth pocket. Otherwise, it’s wiser to treat appreciation as a bonus, not the reason to hold. In most cases, the investment should stand on its cash flow first—and let appreciation quietly do its thing in the background.

When Selling Makes More Sense (and When Renting Wins)

The episode is candid: more often than not, selling is the better fit for most owners—unless a few specific conditions are true:

• The property is multi-family with strong long-term rental math.

• The property sits near downtow,n and you’re prepared for the realities of a short-term rental (including potential city restrictions and neighborhood covenants).

• You fully understand (and accept) the insurance, tax, maintenance, and capital gains implications—and the numbers still work.

If your current home wasn’t purchased with renting in mind, odds are it isn’t the most efficient rental in your portfolio. That doesn’t make renting a mistake; it just means you should expect the math to reflect that.

How to Use These Five Questions (Fast)

1. Pick your lane: Long-term or short-term—and be honest about the work.

2. Test the asset: Would another property rent better than this one?

3. Price the realities: Insurance, taxes, maintenance, management, vacancy, utilities (if short-term).

4. Name the motive: If it’s sentiment, say so. If it’s cash flow, insist on a full pro forma.

5. Rate the location: “Tremendous” appreciation or “average”? Don’t pretend one is the other.

Answer those, and the path—sell now vs. rent now—usually becomes clear.

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Bottom Line

Should You Sell Your House or Rent It Out When Moving? 5 Considerations isn’t a trick question—it’s a checklist. If selling is required to qualify for the next home, sell. If you can qualify either way, weigh the five factors: rental type, asset fit, full costs, sentiment, and appreciation reality. In the Upstate, multi-family often outperforms for long-term rentals, downtown pockets can justify short-term effort, and most other single-family homes make better sale candidates than enduring rentals. Choose the path that aligns with your life first—and the numbers second—so the home you’re leaving supports the one you’re building next.

Ien Araneta

Journal & Podcast Editor | Selling Greenville