Property Decider

The Property Decider projects four ways to handle a property you already own and ranks them by the wealth you would hold at the end of your time horizon.

• Rent it out: collect rent (reduced by your vacancy rate), pay the mortgage, maintenance, taxes, insurance and management fees, then tax the rental profit. Net cash flow is reinvested each year and the property keeps appreciating.
• Sell now: take today's value, subtract selling costs, the remaining mortgage and capital gains tax, then invest the proceeds at your alternative return for the whole horizon.
• Keep & use: live in it yourself. You pay the carrying costs but avoid paying rent elsewhere, and you still benefit from appreciation and mortgage pay-down.
• Leave empty: hold it purely for appreciation. You pay carrying costs and your own housing elsewhere, with no rental income to offset them.

The numbers behind each option

• Gross yield = annual rent ÷ property value. Net yield subtracts vacancy, maintenance, tax, insurance and management.
• Cash flow = rent received minus every running cost including the mortgage — the money that actually lands in your pocket each month.
• Appreciation & equity grow the property's value while each mortgage payment chips away at the balance you owe.
• ROI is the annualised return on your current equity, so options with little cash tied up can win even with modest gains.
• Vacancy risk directly discounts rental income, so a high vacancy rate can flip renting from best to worst.

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