I'm tired of being a landlord. What are my options?
You have four options, and two of them end the work. You can sell to an investor, or to a buyer who will live in one unit. You can also hire a manager, or exchange it for other investment real estate. Those two change what the work is.
WHAT MOST PEOPLE ARE NEVER TOLD
Your property has two kinds of buyer: an investor, whose loan is sized by the rent, and a buyer who will live in one unit, who needs far less cash. Which one you sell to is a big part of your decision.
- Sell to a buyer who will live in one unit. On a house with an ADU or a duplex, at today's rates, this buyer needs far less cash than an investor to pay the same price. It takes a loan, an appraisal and a unit they can move into.
- Sell to an investor or a cash buyer. A cash sale has no loan and no lender's appraisal to wait on, so it is usually faster. The price comes mostly from the rent the property earns.
- Keep it and hire a manager. You keep the rent and pay a fee. Repairs and hard decisions stay yours.
- Exchange it for other investment real estate. The tax code calls this a like-kind or 1031 exchange, and a CPA tells you if it fits. It only solves the landlord problem if the new property is less work.
Before you choose, see the cash each buyer needs at your price.
GOOD TO KNOW
Have a CPA run the tax before you pick, because tax can decide this and it differs for every owner. Selling to a buyer who will live there needs sound condition, a unit to move into and time for a loan to close.
Yours is a little different. They all are.
Tell us what you are looking at and what you are trying to do. We answer with the numbers on your situation.
Free. No credit pull.
WHERE THIS COMES FROM
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-1.1-01, Occupancy Types (11/04/2026)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.8-02, Rental Income from the Subject Property (09/02/2026)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-3-01, General Property Eligibility (09/03/2025): property condition
- Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.19(e) and (f): waiting periods before a home loan can close (CFPB)
- Series Homes count of 2025 HMDA data: how often applications for a loan to buy a two-unit property are denied (FFIEC HMDA Data Browser)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-4.3-10, Anticipated Sales Proceeds (02/23/2016): names the like-kind exchange under section 1031 of the tax code
- 26 U.S.C. 1031, Exchange of real property held for productive use or investment (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
Researched and written by Series Homes. Checked against its sources on . Lending rules change. This page is general information, not a loan offer or legal or tax advice.