Stay or sell? Run all three futures side by side.

The direct answer this tool gives: which of keeping your home, selling and investing, or selling and buying again leaves you ahead over your horizon — after pricing the mortgage rate you'd give up. With the defaults (a $600,000 home, $350,000 owed at 3.25%, today's rate 7.40%), keeping wins by about $61,600 over five years, because the 3.25% loan is worth about $56,700 in today's dollars all by itself. Change any number and the answer can change.

The Stay-or-Sell Decider

Every figure is editable, and every result updates as you type. Nothing leaves your browser.

Your home & loan
Principal & interest. Auto-filled from balance, rate and years left — type over it to use the payment on your statement.
Cost of staying
Rule of thumb: about 1% of the home's value a year.
If you sold
Negotiable — this is a neutral middle figure, not a standard.
Used by the sell-and-invest path.
Deliberately conservative — a house decision shouldn't need a hot market to work.
If you bought again
Your sale proceeds become the down payment.
Freddie Mac PMMS national average, week ending October 15, 2026: 30-year 7.40%, 15-year 6.71%. Type your own quote if you have one.
The tax check
What you paid, plus purchase closing costs and major improvements.
The §121 tests for the $250,000 / $500,000 exclusion.
Your current rate, priced
Your payment now
$0
principal & interest
New payment if you buy again
$0
proceeds down, today's rate
Monthly difference
$0
the rate penalty, per month
$0
what keeping your current rate is worth over the horizon

Lowest net cost

A — Keep your home

Out of pocket
$0
Equity & appreciation back
$0
Net cost
$0
You hold at the end
$0
Lowest net cost

B — Sell & invest

Rent paid
$0
Investment growth
$0
Net cost
$0
You hold at the end
$0
Lowest net cost

C — Sell & buy again

Out of pocket
$0
Equity & appreciation back
$0
Net cost
$0
You hold at the end
$0

Estimates only, under the assumptions you set — not financial or tax advice. The sell paths use the proceeds and tax math from this site's other two calculators; appreciation and investment returns are your inputs, not predictions.

How each path is figured

Path A — Keep your home

Out of pocket: your payment for every month of the horizon (stopping at payoff if the loan ends sooner), plus property tax, insurance, and maintenance. Back to you: the principal you pay down and the appreciation you assume. What you hold at the end is your home's value minus the remaining balance.

Path B — Sell & invest

Your net proceeds from selling — computed with the net proceeds math and the capital-gains check, including an estimated tax bill if the §121 exclusion doesn't cover your gain — go into an investment growing at your return assumption. Against that, you pay rent on a comparable home for the whole horizon. What you hold at the end is cash, not a home, and the verdict says so.

Path C — Sell & buy again

Your proceeds become the down payment on the new home, and the rest is a new loan at today's rate — that's where giving up your old rate shows up as a higher payment every single month. Out of pocket, equity back, and ending position are figured exactly like Path A, with tax, insurance, and maintenance scaled to the new home's price.

The rate-penalty line is the point of this calculator. Re-borrowing your same balance at today's rate instead of keeping your current one costs the difference between the two payments, every month, for as long as you'd have held the old loan. The headline value is in today's dollars: it discounts those future payment savings at today's rate and adds the lower balance you'd still owe at the end of the horizon, also discounted. On the defaults that's an $858.14-a-month payment difference, worth about $56,700 in today's dollars over five years — before the new home's bigger balance makes the real jump $1,008.52 a month.

Questions, answered straight

What does this calculator actually compare?

Three futures over the same number of years: keeping your home and your current mortgage, selling and investing the proceeds while you rent, and selling and buying again at today's mortgage rate. Each path totals what you pay out, what comes back as equity or investment growth, and what you hold at the end.

Why does my current mortgage rate matter so much?

Because selling gives it up. Re-borrowing the same balance at today's rate costs hundreds more per month — on a $350,000 balance, going from 3.25% to 7.40% adds about $858 a month, a rate advantage this calculator values at about $56,700 over five years in today's dollars. That difference is an asset you own today, and this calculator prices it.

Are the results a recommendation?

No. They are arithmetic under the assumptions you set — change the appreciation, investment-return, or rent figures and the winner can change. Use the numbers to frame the conversation with your realtor, lender, and tax professional.

Does anything I type get saved or sent?

No. Every calculation runs in your browser on this device. Your figures are never transmitted or stored.

Where does today's mortgage rate come from?

The default is the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) national average for the week ending October 15, 2026 — 7.40% for a 30-year fixed loan and 6.71% for a 15-year. It is labeled on the calculator and editable; a quote from your own lender is the better input if you have one.