Most Las Vegas owners who ask me whether to sell or rent out their home are not investors. They are moving up, moving across the valley or leaving town, and they have a 3% mortgage that no lender offers today (Freddie Mac's average was 7.28% on October 1, 2026). The rent number looks great next to that payment, so the question feels easy. It is not easy, because the payment is only one line of the ledger and the tax rules change the moment a tenant moves in.
This guide is the decision, not the how-to. Our separate guide on how to rent out your house in Las Vegas covers screening, leases and setup. Here I run the numbers that decide whether you should become a landlord at all: what the house would rent for, what it costs to carry, how renting changes your Nevada property-tax cap, how long you can rent before the IRS takes back your capital-gains exclusion, and a worked example of selling now against renting for three years and then selling. Every assumption is stated so you can swap in your own.
Renting out your Las Vegas home usually wins only when your mortgage rate sits far below today's 7.28% Freddie Mac average (October 1, 2026) and the rent clears every cost. Single-family homes in Las Vegas leased at a $2,295 median in July 2026. If you rent, plan the sale within about three years of moving out to keep the Section 121 exclusion, and budget tax on depreciation.
- Las Vegas single-family homes leased at a $2,295 median across 932 MLS leases in July 2026.
- A 3% mortgage is the main reason to keep; Freddie Mac's average was 7.28% on October 1, 2026.
- Renting at market rent ends the 3% primary-residence cap; NRS 361.4722 then allows up to 8%.
- Close the sale within about three years of moving out or lose the full Section 121 exclusion.
- Depreciation is taxed at up to 25% when you sell, even when the rest of the gain is excluded.
What Would Your Las Vegas Home Rent For Right Now?
Start with closed leases, not asking rents. On October 1, 2026 I pulled the single-family leases recorded in the Las Vegas MLS for July 2026, the same month our Henderson rent guide uses, so the numbers line up across our posts. The 932 single-family homes in the "Las Vegas" postal city leased at a median of $2,295 a month after a median of 20 days on the market. In Henderson, 228 single-family homes leased at a $2,400 median after 24 days. For Summerlin, our Summerlin rent guide found 2,822 Summerlin-area leases of all types closing at a $2,376 median in the 12 months ending July 2026, while its 283 active single-family rental listings were asking a median of $3,100 that July. The Las Vegas and Henderson figures are our own pull of Las Vegas MLS data through Repliers on October 1, 2026, not official Las Vegas REALTORS statistics. The Summerlin figures are as published in that guide, which attributes them to Las Vegas REALTORS (GLVAR) MLS lease data pulled in July 2026.
| Measure | Window | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas single-family, median lease | July 2026 (932 leases) | $2,295 a month, 20 days on market | Our pull of Las Vegas MLS data through Repliers, October 1, 2026 |
| Henderson single-family, median lease | July 2026 (228 leases) | $2,400 a month, 24 days on market | Same pull; matches our Henderson rent guide |
| Summerlin, all leases, median | 12 months ending July 2026 (2,822 leases) | $2,376 a month | Our Summerlin rent guide, citing GLVAR MLS lease data |
| Summerlin single-family, median asking rent | Active listings, July 2026 (283) | $3,100 a month | Our Summerlin rent guide, citing GLVAR MLS data |
| HUD Fair Market Rent, three-bedroom | Fiscal year 2027, effective October 1, 2026 | $2,317 a month | HUD, Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas metro |
| HUD Fair Market Rent, four-bedroom | Fiscal year 2027, effective October 1, 2026 | $2,652 a month | HUD, same metro |
According to HUD's fiscal year 2027 Fair Market Rent schedule, effective October 1, 2026, the metro's Fair Market Rent is $2,317 for a three-bedroom unit and $2,652 for a four-bedroom. Those HUD figures matter for more than housing vouchers: they are the starting point for one of Nevada's property-tax caps, which I cover below.
Two cautions before you plug in a rent. First, the MLS captures leases that agents listed, which skews toward houses; large apartment complexes lease directly and are not in these counts. Second, days on market measures listing to lease, not the turnover time before you can list. Your own number should come from leased comparables near your street, matched on bedrooms, garage, pool and condition. Our average rent in Las Vegas guide breaks the valley into neighborhoods if you want a wider view. Price it as the market does, not from your payment, because a tenant never sees your mortgage.
What Does It Cost Each Month to Keep the House as a Rental?
Rent minus the mortgage payment is not cash flow. The table below is the monthly ledger for the hypothetical owner in my worked example: a Las Vegas single-family home bought in October 2020 for $330,000 with a $264,000, 30-year loan at 3.00%, now worth about $475,000 and renting at the $2,295 July 2026 median. Every line is either computed or a labeled assumption you should replace with your own figure.
| Line item | Monthly | How it is set |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | $2,295 | July 2026 median single-family lease, Las Vegas |
| Mortgage principal and interest | $1,113 | Computed: $264,000 at 3.00% for 30 years |
| Property tax | $200 | Assumed current bill of $2,400 a year; look yours up with the Treasurer |
| Landlord insurance | $125 | Assumed $1,200 homeowners premium plus about 25% for a landlord policy |
| HOA dues | $60 | Assumption; many valley homes have none, some pay far more |
| Maintenance and repairs | $200 | Assumption; replace with your own repair history |
| Vacancy reserve | $191 | One month of rent per year, set aside monthly |
| Property management | $0 self-managed | About $23 a month for each percentage point of rent you pay a manager |
| Total costs | $1,889 | Before income tax |
| Monthly cash flow | $406 | Rent minus total costs, self-managed |
That $406 is before income tax and before a manager. It also hides something that works in the owner's favor: about $6,600 of the year's mortgage payments go to principal on a loan this far along, so the tenant is paying down your balance. Over 36 months the balance in this example falls by about $20,400. It is real equity, but it stays locked in the house until you sell or refinance.
The thin lines are where first-time landlords get hurt. A $200 maintenance budget is a guess; one air-conditioning replacement in July can eat two years of it. The vacancy reserve assumes one empty month a year, which covers a turnover but not a long gap. And the property-tax line is not fixed, because renting changes which cap protects your bill. If your own version of this table shows cash flow under $200 a month, one surprise repair turns the year negative, and the case for keeping the house rests almost entirely on principal paydown and whatever prices do.
Why Does Your Mortgage Rate Decide So Much of This?
The rate is usually the whole story. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed rate averaged 7.28% as of October 1, 2026, up from 7.03% the week before and 6.34% a year earlier. The owner in my example pays $1,113 a month in principal and interest at 3.00%. A buyer who purchased the same $475,000 house today with 20% down would borrow $380,000, and at 7.28% that payment is about $2,600 a month before taxes and insurance, more than the $2,295 the house rents for.
That gap is why a low-rate house can cash flow as a rental when a newly bought rental in the same neighborhood usually cannot. It is also why the decision should be made on the specific loan you hold, not on general rules about rent-to-price ratios. Run three checks before anything else.
First, the spread: the further your rate sits below the current PMMS average, the more of the rent survives the mortgage. An owner at 6.5% has a very different spreadsheet from one at 2.75%. Second, the balance: a large remaining balance means a large payment even at a low rate, and less equity to free up by selling. Third, your next purchase: if you need the equity from this house to buy the next one, keeping it means borrowing more at today's rates on the new home, and that cost belongs in the comparison. Our refinance timing guide explains why a 3% loan can't be replaced at today's rates.
One practical note on the loan itself. Your deed of trust has an occupancy clause, and your homeowners policy assumes you live there. Read both and tell your lender and insurer about the change before the tenant arrives. A claim on a policy written for an owner-occupied home can be denied once the insurer learns the house was rented.
How Does Renting Change Your Property Tax Cap in Nevada?
Nevada caps how fast your property-tax bill can rise, not the rate itself, and renting the house switches which cap applies. Under NRS 361.4723, the owner of a single-family residence that is the owner's primary residence gets a partial abatement that holds the bill's annual increase to 3%. The statute defines a primary residence as one that "is not rented, leased or otherwise made available for exclusive occupancy" by anyone other than the owner and the owner's family. Once you lease the whole house to a tenant, it no longer meets that definition.
What applies instead is the general abatement in NRS 361.4722. It limits the increase to the greater of the county's 10-year average change in assessed value or twice the prior year's CPI increase, but never more than 8%. According to the Clark County Assessor, "a cap of up to 8% on the tax bill will be applied to residences that are not owner occupied." The Assessor also notes that any recorded ownership document removes the owner-occupied 3% abatement, so if you record a new deed or later move back in, file a new claim.
There is a third path, but it is narrower than it looks. NRS 361.4724 gives a 3% cap to a residential rental dwelling when the rent collected does not exceed HUD's Fair Market Rent for the county. Under NAC 361.607, however, the Assessor compares the highest rent you charged from April 1 to March 31, excluding any amount paid for utilities, with HUD's Fair Market Rent minus a utility allowance, and the owner must file the claim with an affidavit each year by June 15. The Clark County Assessor's page publishes the resulting maximums, and for the 2024-2025 tax year the three-bedroom maximum was $1,981. Las Vegas single-family homes leased at a $2,295 median in July 2026, so a typical three-bedroom house lease would not qualify. Treat this cap as the exception for below-market rentals, not the rule.
Two more steps keep the paperwork clean. When the house stops being your primary residence, tell the Assessor: under NAC 361.606, the primary-residence claim form can require you to agree to notify the county assessor when the home is no longer your primary residence, and a change in occupancy that happens after July 1 is reflected on the tax roll in the next fiscal year. And do not guess on any claim: NRS 361.4735 imposes a penalty of three times the tax deficiency on anyone who falsely claims an abatement with intent to evade tax.
| Year | 3% cap ceiling | 8% cap ceiling | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $2,400 | $2,400 | $0 |
| Year 2 | $2,472 | $2,592 | $120 |
| Year 3 | $2,546 | $2,799 | $253 |
| Three-year total | $7,418 | $7,791 | $373 |
| Year 10 bill | $3,131 | $4,798 | $1,667 |
Over a three-year rental the gap is small, about $373 in this example. Over ten years it compounds into real money, which is why long-term landlords should model it. The actual general-cap percentage is set each year by the statutory formula and can come in below 8%, and a bill only rises by the full cap when the uncapped tax is higher still. District rates also differ: according to the Clark County Treasurer's rate schedule, the fiscal 2026-2027 combined rate is 3.2782 per $100 of assessed value in the City of Las Vegas, 2.9613 in Henderson, 3.3544 in North Las Vegas and 2.9328 in unincorporated towns such as Paradise, Spring Valley and Winchester. Our 3% versus 8% cap guide and Las Vegas property tax explainer walk through the bill itself.
How Long Can You Rent Before You Lose the Section 121 Exclusion?
This is the rule that decides most sell-or-rent questions, and it runs on a clock you cannot pause. According to IRS Publication 523, written for 2025 returns, you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain on the sale of your main home, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly, if you owned the home and lived in it as your residence for at least 24 months of the five years ending on the date of the sale. The 24 months do not have to be continuous; the publication counts 730 days. For the $500,000 joint exclusion, only one spouse has to meet the ownership test, but each spouse must meet the residence test. You also cannot have excluded gain on another home sale in the two years before this one.
Renting after you move out does not by itself cost you the exclusion. Publication 523 says a period of nonqualified use does not include "any portion of the 5-year period ending on the date of the sale or exchange after the last date you or your spouse (or former spouse) used the property as your main home." Its own example describes an owner who moved out on January 1, 2021, rented the house and sold it on April 30, 2023, and could still exclude up to $250,000, except for the depreciation.
The catch is the five-year look-back. Your last 24 months in the house have to fall inside the five years before closing, so once you move out you have about three years to close. Move out on October 1, 2026, and the number of residence days that fit inside the window shrinks with every day the closing moves later; it falls below 730 for closings after about September 30, 2029. A closing on September 15, 2029 still counts 746 days of residence, above the 730 needed; a closing on November 15, 2029 counts only 685, and the full exclusion is gone. Count days, not months, when you get close, and build in time for a sale that takes longer than planned. Publication 523 also describes partial exclusions for moves caused by work, health or unforeseeable events; those rules are narrow, so get a tax professional's read before relying on one. Our guide to capital gains when selling a home covers the basic calculation of gain and basis.
The practical rule for a "temporary" rental: decide your latest closing date on the day the tenant moves in, write it on the calendar, and work backward. A listing needs time to sell, and a tenant's lease end date may not line up with your deadline.
What Happens With Depreciation and Recapture When You Sell?
Depreciation is the part of the tax picture that renting adds and the exclusion does not erase. According to IRS Publication 527, when you convert a home you lived in to a rental, the basis for depreciation is the lesser of the home's fair market value or your adjusted basis on the date of conversion. Land is not depreciable, and if you do not know how to split land from building, Publication 527 says you can divide the cost using the assessed values for real estate tax purposes. Residential rental property is depreciated straight-line over 27.5 years using a mid-month convention.
In my example the owner's adjusted basis of $330,000 is below the $475,000 market value, so the basis is $330,000. Assuming 75% of it is building, the depreciable basis is $247,500 and the annual deduction is $9,000. Placed in service in October 2026 and sold in September 2029, the mid-month convention gives about 35 months of depreciation, or $26,250.
When you sell, Publication 523 says you cannot exclude the part of your gain equal to depreciation "allowed or allowable" after May 6, 1997. "Allowable" means the IRS counts depreciation you were entitled to take even if you never claimed it, so skipping the deduction does not avoid the tax. According to IRS Topic 409, this unrecaptured section 1250 gain is taxed at a maximum 25% rate. On $26,250 that is up to $6,563. IRS Publication 544 lists the 2025 maximum capital-gain rates as 0%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 28%.
Two more federal points belong in the decision. Publication 527 explains that rental losses are generally passive, but an owner who actively participates can deduct up to $25,000 of loss against other income, with that allowance phasing out between $100,000 and $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income. It also notes the 3.8% net investment income tax can reach rental income. Nevada adds nothing: the Nevada Constitution, Article 10, Section 1 bars an income tax on the wages or personal income of natural persons.
What Does the Worked Example Show: Sell Now or Rent 3 Years?
Here is the full comparison for the hypothetical owner. It is an illustration with stated inputs, not a prediction of prices, rents or rates. The owner bought in October 2020, lived in the house as a primary residence for six years, and in October 2026 chooses between selling immediately and renting for 36 months before selling in September 2029, inside the three-year window. The sale price is held at $475,000, the Southern Nevada single-family median that Las Vegas REALTORS reported for August 2026, as reported by KSNV.
| Input | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase | $330,000, October 2020 | Hypothetical; no improvements added |
| Loan | $264,000 at 3.00%, 30 years | Balance $228,310 now, $207,910 after 36 more months |
| Sale price | $475,000 | Held flat; see the next section for changes |
| Transfer tax | $2.55 per $500 | Clark County rate; $2,423 on $475,000 |
| Other selling costs | 6% of price | Assumption covering commission, title, escrow and credits, all negotiable or variable |
| Rent and costs | As in the monthly table | Rent held flat; property tax rising at the 8% ceiling |
| Depreciation | $26,250 | 75% building share, 35 months |
| Tax on depreciation | Up to 25% | Unrecaptured section 1250 gain |
| Dimension | Sell now (October 2026) | Rent 36 months, sell September 2029 |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $475,000 | $475,000 |
| Transfer tax plus other selling costs | $30,923 | $30,923 |
| Loan payoff | $228,310 | $207,910 |
| Net sale proceeds | $215,767 | $236,167 |
| Rental cash flow over 36 months | None | $14,014 |
| Gain and how it is taxed | $114,078, all excluded under Section 121 | $140,328: $114,078 excluded, $26,250 depreciation taxable |
| Federal tax on the sale | $0 | Up to $6,563 |
| Cash in hand at the end | $215,767 plus whatever it earns | $243,619 |
At a flat price, renting comes out about $27,852 ahead, and the parts are easy to see: $20,400 of principal the rent paid down, $14,014 of cash flow, minus $6,563 of tax on depreciation. Three things shrink that edge. The sale cash in the first column can earn something; every 1% a year it earns adds about $6,500 over three years. Paying a manager costs about $23 a month per percentage point, or roughly $830 per point over 36 months. And the example's taxable rental profit, about $2,500 in year one after depreciation, is not deducted here. A real landlord also carries risks the table cannot show, such as a long vacancy or a tenant who stops paying.
How Do Price Changes and Timing Move the Answer?
Holding the price flat isolates the mechanics, but the house's value is the biggest variable in the rental column, because you keep all of the market risk for three more years. Prices do move both ways: according to the same KSNV report on Las Vegas REALTORS data, the August 2026 median of $475,000 was down 1% from August 2025 and below the record $490,000 set in May and June 2026. The table below shows the rental scenario at three illustrative annual price changes. None of them is a prediction.
| Dimension | Prices fall 3% a year | Prices flat | Prices rise 3% a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale price, September 2029 | $433,520 | $475,000 | $519,045 |
| Net sale proceeds | $197,385 | $236,167 | $277,343 |
| Rental cash flow, 36 months | $14,014 | $14,014 | $14,014 |
| Tax on $26,250 of depreciation | Up to $6,563 | Up to $6,563 | Up to $6,563 |
| Cash at the end | $204,837 | $243,619 | $284,795 |
| Compared with selling now | $10,930 behind | $27,852 ahead | $69,028 ahead |
| Extra tax if the closing slips past the window | About $11,294 | About $17,112 | About $23,288 |
The last row is the timing risk. If the sale closes after the three-year window, the gain that Section 121 would have excluded becomes taxable. I priced it at 15%, the rate that applies, according to IRS Topic 409, to a married couple filing jointly with taxable income between $96,700 and $600,050 under the tax-year 2025 schedule. A different filing status, a different year's thresholds, or the 3.8% net investment income tax would change it. Missing the deadline by a few weeks can cost more than three years of rental cash flow.
Read the table as a range of outcomes, not a recommendation. A 3% annual decline is enough to put the rental scenario behind, while a rising market makes it look clever. Whether you can absorb the bad column is a better question than which column you expect.
What Do Vacancy, Repairs and Management Really Cost a Las Vegas Landlord?
These are the lines owners underestimate, so here is what can be sourced and what cannot. Vacancy first. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Housing Vacancy Survey table of metro rental vacancy rates, the rental vacancy rate for the Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas metro was 7.6% in Q2 2026, with a margin of error of 2.6 points, after 7.7% in Q1 2026. That rate covers apartments as well as houses. On the house side, my July 2026 MLS pull showed Las Vegas single-family leases taking a median of 20 days and an average of 31 days from listing to lease. Add a week or two of cleaning, paint and repairs between tenants, and one empty month a year is a reasonable reserve, not a pessimistic one.
Insurance next. According to the Insurance Information Institute, landlord policies "generally cost about 25 percent more than a standard homeowners policy." I applied that to an assumed $1,200 premium in the example; get an actual quote for your house, because premiums vary widely by home and carrier.
Maintenance has no published Las Vegas average I would stand behind, so I left it as a $200-a-month assumption and told you to replace it. Your own receipts from the years you lived there are the best guide, adjusted for the fact that you will now pay someone for repairs you might once have done yourself. In this climate the air conditioner is the expensive line, and NRS 118A.290 counts air-conditioning the landlord supplies among the facilities a habitable unit must keep in good repair, so a July breakdown is not a repair you can put off.
Property management is a choice, not a fixed cost. Nevada issues property-management permits to real estate licensees under NRS 645.6052, so ask any company you interview for its permit. Fees vary, so I have not printed a "typical" range; instead, use the arithmetic. On a $2,295 rent, each percentage point of a management fee is about $23 a month. Ask whether leasing, renewal or maintenance-coordination fees apply on top of the monthly percentage, and compare the total cost over a full lease rather than the headline rate.
What Does Nevada Landlord-Tenant Law Require?
If you rent, NRS Chapter 118A becomes part of your life. According to NRS 118A, these are the rules most likely to cost a new landlord money:
- Security deposits (NRS 118A.242). The total of deposits and surety bonds, including last month's rent, may not exceed three months' periodic rent. You must return the balance with an itemized written accounting no later than 30 days after the tenancy ends, and a landlord who fails to can owe the entire deposit plus up to that amount again.
- Rent increases (NRS 118A.300). You need 60 days' written notice before the first increased payment, or 30 days for a periodic tenancy shorter than a month. Our guide on how much a Las Vegas landlord can raise rent covers the details.
- Entry (NRS 118A.330). Except in emergencies, give at least 24 hours' notice and enter only at reasonable times during normal business hours.
- Habitability (NRS 118A.355). After written notice of a habitability failure, you generally have 14 days to remedy it or make a best effort, or the tenant gains remedies that include withholding rent.
- Fees and payments (NRS 118A.303 and 118A.306, added in 2025). You must offer at least one way to pay rent without a fee or bank-account details, and you must refund an application fee if you rent to someone else without processing that application.
Two more statutes outside Chapter 118A catch people. NRS 118.165 requires a landlord to give the tenant a statement each July, and whenever the rent changes, showing how much of each rent payment represents property taxes, unless the written lease provides for that calculation and notice. And NRS 118.100 bars refusing to rent, setting different terms or publishing any advertisement that indicates a preference based on race, religious creed, color, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry, familial status or sex. Write your screening criteria before you advertise and apply them the same way to every applicant.
None of this is hard, but all of it is mandatory, and a missed deposit deadline alone can cost you the whole deposit plus up to that amount again. If you would rather not learn the rules, budget for a manager who already does.
Can Your HOA or Local Rules Stop You From Renting?
Check your community's documents before you run any numbers. Under NRS 116.335, if a common-interest community's declaration authorizes the association to prohibit or restrict renting, or sets a maximum number or percentage of units that may be rented, the association may adopt rules restricting rentals to the extent the restriction is reasonably related to the underwriting requirements of mortgage lenders or insurers. If you are blocked because the rental cap is full, the statute lets you ask the executive board for a waiver based on economic hardship, and units the developer still owns do not count toward the cap. The association can also enforce restrictions on transient lodging. Read the declaration and the current rules, and ask the management company in writing how many units are rented today.
Licensing comes next. At the state level, NRS 76.020 says the term "business" for the state business license does not include "a natural person whose sole business is the rental of four or fewer dwelling units to others." That exemption is for individuals; an LLC is an entity and falls under the general definition. Locally, the City of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County each run their own business-license programs. As of October 1, 2026 I could not confirm from their published pages whether a single long-term rental house needs a local license, so I am not going to tell you it does or does not. Call the business license office for the jurisdiction your parcel sits in before you list.
Short-term rentals are a different business with different rules, caps and licenses in every jurisdiction, and they are not part of this comparison. If you are weighing nightly rentals, start with our Las Vegas short-term rental rules and the Henderson short-term rental rules; many owners discover their parcel is not eligible at all.
When Does Renting Tend to Make Sense, and When Does Selling?
After the numbers, the decision usually comes down to a handful of objective conditions. None of them is about the neighborhood or the people in it; they are about your loan, your cash, your timeline and the property's rules.
| Condition | Tends to favor renting | Tends to favor selling |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage rate | Far below the current PMMS average | Close to or above it |
| Monthly cash flow after all costs | Clearly positive with a vacancy reserve | Thin or negative |
| Equity needs | Next home bought without this equity | Equity needed for the next down payment |
| Section 121 timing | Exit date set inside the three-year window, or a long hold planned | Unsure when you would sell |
| Cash reserves | Several months of costs set aside | No cushion for a repair or vacancy |
| HOA and local rules | Renting allowed and the cap not reached | Restricted, capped or unclear |
| Management | Nearby and willing, or a manager in the budget | Moving away with no budget for a manager |
| Property condition | Systems recently serviced or replaced | Major systems near the end of their life |
Renting tends to work for the owner whose loan is cheap, whose rent clears every line with room to spare, and who does not need the equity for the next purchase. It works better still when the owner has a firm exit plan: either sell inside the three-year window, or commit to a long hold and accept that the exclusion will be gone.
Selling tends to work for the owner whose cash flow depends on everything going right, whose next down payment is sitting in this house, or whose HOA restricts rentals. It is also the cleaner choice when the house needs a roof or air-conditioning system soon, because those costs land on the landlord. And if the honest answer to "when would you sell?" is "I don't know," the tax rules lean toward selling now, while the exclusion is certain. A middle path exists: some owners sell, take the excluded gain and buy a purpose-chosen rental later. Our Las Vegas rental market guide for investors looks at that side.
What If You Rent Now and Plan to Sell Later With a Tenant in Place?
Plenty of owners rent first and decide later, and that works if you understand what a lease does to a future sale. Under NRS 118A.349, when a rented property is sold, the new owner takes on the rights and obligations of the previous landlord under the existing rental agreement unless the new owner and tenant agree otherwise, and the seller must transfer the security deposit. NRS 118A.244 requires the landlord to transfer remaining deposits to the successor in writing before recording the deed, or notify the successor that they were returned. In plain terms, the lease goes with the house.
That shapes your buyer pool. A buyer who wants to live in the home needs the lease to end first, while an investor may prefer the tenant in place. So line the lease up with your deadline. If your Section 121 window closes in October 2029, a lease that runs to September 2029 leaves you either selling to an investor with the tenant in place or racing the deadline; a lease ending in the spring gives you room to prepare the house, list it and close with weeks to spare. Our guide to selling a house with tenants in Las Vegas covers access, showings and the offer math.
There is one more exit. Publication 523 notes that when a former main home becomes a rental, Section 121 and the Section 1031 like-kind exchange rules can both apply to the same sale, with the exclusion applied first. That can let an owner exclude part of the gain and defer the rest into another investment property, but the rules are technical and the clock is short: Publication 544 gives you 45 days after the transfer to identify the replacement property. Our 1031 exchange guide for Nevada investors explains the mechanics; plan it with a tax professional before you list.
How Do You Get Both Numbers Before You Decide?
The decision needs two numbers built on the same day: what the house would rent for and what it would net you as a sale. Everything else in this guide is a way of comparing them honestly. A rent estimate should come from closed leases on comparable houses near yours. A sale estimate should be a written net sheet that starts from closed sales, subtracts the transfer tax, your payoff and the other selling costs, and ends with the check you would receive. Our seller net sheet guide shows every line, and our guide to selling your home in Las Vegas covers pricing, preparation and timing if you sell.
In our experience across the 9,600+ closings we've represented, the owners who regret this decision are rarely the ones who chose wrong between selling and renting. They are the ones who never ran the comparison, rented by default, and then discovered the Section 121 window had closed or the cash flow depended on nothing breaking. Nevada Real Estate Group is the #1 real estate team in Nevada, with 150+ agents and 9,061+ verified five-star reviews, and pricing homes for sale is the core of what we do.
If you want both numbers for your address, start with our seller services page, or send us the address and call (702) 637-1759. Ask for a written net sheet and the recent leased comparables near your home, side by side, so you can make the call with your own numbers instead of this example's. For the tax questions, especially your exact Section 121 deadline and depreciation, bring the comparison to your CPA; that conversation goes faster when the numbers are already on paper. You can also browse current homes for sale to see what your equity would buy if you sell.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it better to sell or rent out my house in Las Vegas?
It depends on your loan rate, your cash flow and your timeline. Renting tends to work when your mortgage rate sits far below Freddie Mac's 7.28% average (October 1, 2026), the rent clears every cost with a vacancy reserve, and you either plan to sell within about three years of moving out or commit to a long hold. Selling tends to work when cash flow is thin, you need the equity for your next home, or your HOA restricts rentals. Run both numbers for your own house before deciding.
How much will my Las Vegas house rent for?
As a starting point, Las Vegas single-family homes leased at a $2,295 median across 932 MLS leases in July 2026, and Henderson single-family homes at a $2,400 median across 228 leases. HUD's fiscal year 2027 Fair Market Rent for the metro, effective October 1, 2026, is $2,317 for a three-bedroom. Your own rent depends on bedrooms, garage, pool, condition and exact location, so price from recent closed leases on comparable homes near you rather than from a valley-wide median or your mortgage payment.
Do I lose the capital gains exclusion if I rent out my house?
Not immediately. IRS Publication 523 lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for joint filers, if you owned and lived in the home for at least 24 months of the five years before the sale. Time spent renting after you move out, within that five-year window, is not counted as nonqualified use. In practice you have about three years after moving out to close. You still owe tax on depreciation, at up to 25%.
Does renting my house change my Nevada property tax?
It can. NRS 361.4723 limits annual bill increases to 3% only for a primary residence that is not rented to others. Once rented at market rent, the home generally falls under NRS 361.4722, which allows increases up to 8% a year. NRS 361.4724 offers a 3% cap to rentals at or below HUD's Fair Market Rent, but NAC 361.607 compares rent without utilities to that figure minus a utility allowance; the Assessor's 2024-2025 three-bedroom maximum was $1,981, so most market-rate houses do not qualify.
What is depreciation recapture on a rental house?
When you rent out a former home, you depreciate the building over 27.5 years starting from the lesser of its market value or your adjusted basis at conversion. When you sell, the gain equal to that depreciation cannot be excluded under Section 121, even if the rest of the gain is. According to IRS Topic 409, this unrecaptured section 1250 gain is taxed at a maximum 25% rate. It applies to depreciation you were allowed to take, whether or not you claimed it.
Can my HOA stop me from renting out my house in Nevada?
Sometimes. Under NRS 116.335, if your community's declaration authorizes rental restrictions or sets a cap on the number or percentage of rented units, the association may adopt rules restricting rentals to the extent they are reasonably related to lender or insurer underwriting requirements. If the cap is full, you can ask the executive board for a hardship waiver. Read the declaration and current rules and ask the association in writing before you sign a lease.
How much security deposit can a Nevada landlord charge?
Under NRS 118A.242, the total of all security deposits and surety bonds, including last month's rent, cannot exceed three months' periodic rent. On a $2,295 rent that ceiling is $6,885. The landlord must return the remaining deposit with an itemized written accounting within 30 days after the tenancy ends, and a landlord who fails to can be liable for the entire deposit plus a court-set amount up to the deposit again.
Which Sources Inform This Sell-or-Rent Guide?
Las Vegas and Henderson rent and days-on-market figures come from our own pull of Las Vegas MLS data through Repliers on October 1, 2026 (single-family leases recorded for July 2026); the Henderson figures match our Henderson rent guide. Summerlin figures are as published in our Summerlin rent guide, which attributes them to Las Vegas REALTORS (GLVAR) MLS lease data. HUD benchmarks come from HUD's fiscal year 2027 Fair Market Rent schedule, effective October 1, 2026, and the rental-abatement maximums from the Clark County Assessor. Vacancy is from the Census Bureau Housing Vacancy Survey rate tables. The mortgage benchmark is Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for October 1, 2026, and the August 2026 median price is Las Vegas REALTORS data as reported by KSNV.
Property-tax rules come from NRS Chapter 361 (sections 361.4722, 361.4723, 361.4724 and 361.4735), NAC Chapter 361 (sections 361.606 and 361.607), the Clark County Assessor's tax abatement page and the Clark County Treasurer's fiscal 2026-2027 district rates. The transfer tax rate is from the Clark County Recorder's real property transfer tax brochure.
Federal tax rules come from IRS Publication 523, IRS Publication 527 and IRS Publication 544, all for 2025 returns, and IRS Topic 409 for capital-gain rates; Nevada's income-tax prohibition is in the Nevada Constitution. Landlord rules come from NRS Chapter 118A, NRS Chapter 118, NRS 116.335, NRS 76.020 and NRS 645.6052. The landlord insurance comparison is from the Insurance Information Institute.
The worked example is illustrative: its purchase price, loan, tax bill, insurance, HOA, maintenance, building share and selling-cost percentage are assumptions, and its price paths are not forecasts. This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice; confirm your own deadlines and figures with a CPA and the relevant county office.
