You have equity in your house. You want to reach some of it without packing a truck. A home sale-leaseback lets you do that: you sell the house, you take the cash, and you sign a lease so you stay put as a renter.
The part nobody explains well is the price tag. Not the sale price. The cost. What comes out of your check at closing, what you pay every month after, and what you hand over that you never get back.
This guide lays out every cost in a home sale-leaseback in 2026, in plain numbers, including the ones that are easy to miss. It also covers the costs that disappear, because those count too. Read it before you talk to any company, ours included.
What a home sale-leaseback costs in 2026: the short answer
. On a $400,000 home that is roughly $28,000 to $36,000 in one-time cost. After closing your ongoing cost is rent, set for the length of your lease. You stop paying property tax, homeowners insurance, and repair bills, because you no longer own the house. The cost you do not see on any statement is future appreciation, which now belongs to the new property owner.
That is the whole picture in one paragraph. The rest of this guide breaks each piece down so you can check a real contract against it.
What a home sale-leaseback is, in plain terms
A sale-leaseback is two agreements signed at the same time. The first is a real sale: the title transfers, your mortgage gets paid off, and the balance comes to you in cash. The second is a lease: you become the renter in the same house, on terms you agree to before closing.
It is not a loan. There is no monthly loan payment and no balance building up against the house. If you want the legal difference spelled out, we covered it in is a sale-leaseback a loan. For the basics of how the transaction works start to finish, see what is a residential sale-leaseback.
Plenty of homeowners are in a position to consider it. As of the second quarter of 2026, U.S. mortgage holders were sitting on a record $18 trillion in equity, with $11.7 trillion of it tappable across 47.5 million borrowers, an average of about $212,000 each, according to the ICE Mortgage Monitor. Having the equity is one thing. Knowing what it costs to reach it is another.
The 7 costs in a home sale-leaseback
Here is every line that costs you money, in the order you run into it.
1. The program fee
This is what the company charges to run the transaction. It is the single biggest one-time cost in most sale-leaseback programs, and it is the number to ask about first.
At Sell2Rent the fee is 6% of the sale price or $15,000, whichever is greater, paid at closing. That is stated the same way on our homeowner FAQ and in our program requirements. On a $400,000 home that is $24,000. On a $200,000 home the 6% figure is $12,000, so the $15,000 minimum applies instead.
Notice what that means: the smaller your house, the bigger the fee is as a share of your sale. On a $200,000 home, $15,000 is 7.5%. Run the percentage for your own price before you decide.
The line to check in the contract: the fee, written as a dollar amount and a percentage, and a sentence saying it is the only fee the company charges.
2. Regular seller closing costs
These are the same costs any home seller pays, and they do not go away because the buyer is an investor. Title insurance, escrow, recording fees, transfer taxes, prorated property taxes, and any outstanding liens all settle at closing.
Redfin puts seller closing costs outside of agent compensation at 1% to 3% of the sale price, with transfer taxes alone ranging from 0.5% to 2% depending on your state. That range is wide because states differ enormously. In a high transfer tax state the cost is real money.
The line to check: a written closing cost estimate that names each item, not a single lump sum labeled "closing costs."
3. The price you sell at
This one is invisible because it never shows up as a fee. If a program values your home below what it would fetch on the open market, the gap is a cost, whether or not anyone calls it one.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that in the adjacent home equity contract market, some companies reduce the starting home value by as much as 25% before they calculate anything. That is not a fee line. It is a haircut baked into the math.
The protection here is simple: get an independent number. An appraisal or a broker price opinion you commission yourself costs a few hundred dollars and tells you whether the offer is in the right neighborhood. If you are weighing an as-is sale, how much you actually lose selling as-is walks through that comparison.
The line to check: how the offer price was set, and whether you are free to get your own valuation.
4. Rent, and what happens to it over time
Rent is your ongoing cost, and over a long stay it is larger than every one-time cost combined. What matters is not just the starting number. It is whether that number can move, and by how much.
The Federal Trade Commission's 2024 alert on sale-leasebacks is blunt about this. It warns homeowners about "exorbitant rent, and even eviction from your home if you can't afford to pay the rent when it goes up. (And it often does.)" Read the full alert. It is short and worth your time regardless of which company you talk to.
For context on the market you would be renting in: Zillow's August 2026 forecast has single-family rents rising 2.1% across 2026 to a typical $2,300 a month, while actual single-family asking rents in July 2026 were $2,314, up 3.0% year over year (Zillow Research, Zillow).
At Sell2Rent, rent is fixed for the full length of the lease, and leases run from 1 month up to 5 years. A fixed rent for a known term is a real thing to ask any company for in writing. For how rent gets set in the first place, see how rental data shapes your leaseback rent.
The line to check: the rent amount, the lease length, whether rent can change during the term, and exactly what happens at renewal.
5. Deposit and move-in money
You are becoming a renter, so normal renter costs apply. Expect a security deposit and possibly first month's rent due at or near closing. It is usually paid out of your proceeds, which makes it easy to overlook when you are looking at a big cash number.
The line to check: the deposit amount, what it can be used for, and the conditions for getting it back.
6. Capital gains tax
A sale-leaseback is a sale, so the tax rules for selling a home apply. The good news for most homeowners is the primary residence exclusion.
Under IRS Topic No. 701, you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain if you file single, or $500,000 if you are married filing jointly. To qualify you need to have owned the home for at least 24 months out of the 5 years before the sale, and lived in it as your residence for at least 24 months of those 5 years. You generally cannot use the exclusion if you already excluded gain from another home sale in the 2 years before this one.
Gain above the exclusion is taxable. State tax may apply on top. We go deeper in the $500K primary residence exclusion, but this is a question for your own tax preparer, not a blog post.
The line to check: your cost basis, including improvements you have made over the years, because that number lowers your gain.
7. Future appreciation, the cost with no invoice
Once you sell, price growth belongs to the new property owner. If the house is worth more in five years, that increase is theirs.
How much that matters depends on the market. Zillow's August 2026 forecast puts home value growth at 0.3% for calendar 2026, and ICE reported annual home price growth of 1.5% in July 2026. Those are modest numbers by recent standards, which softens the sting today. It does not make the cost zero, and nobody can tell you what the next decade looks like.
This is the cost most worth sitting with. Our post on how a sale-leaseback affects long-term housing security takes it further.
The line to check: whether the contract gives you any share of future appreciation or any right to buy the home back. In a standard Sell2Rent deal, it does not.
The costs that go away when you stop owning
An honest cost guide has to show both columns. When the title transfers, a stack of bills transfers with it.
Property taxes. The average single-family property tax bill for the 2025 tax year was $4,427, at an effective rate of 0.90%, and bills rose about 3% that year, according to ATTOM. In high tax states it is far more. See why your property tax bill keeps climbing.
Homeowners insurance. The average annual premium hit $2,948 in 2025 after a 12% jump, per Insurify, which projects $3,057 by the end of 2026. You will still want renters insurance, but that covers your belongings, not the building, and it costs a small fraction of a homeowners policy.
Maintenance and major repairs. A common planning rule is roughly 1% of home value a year, and roofs and HVAC systems do not care about your budget. At Sell2Rent, major repairs are handled by the property owner. What it actually costs to own a home in 2026 breaks this down line by line.
HOA dues, where they apply. These shift to the owner as well.
Add those up on a $400,000 home and you are looking at roughly $10,500 a year, before a single surprise repair. That is the number to hold next to your rent when you compare. Our post on who pays property tax after a leaseback covers how this works in practice.
Estimate your own sale-leaseback costs
Every number above changes with your house. Use the calculator below to see your own one-time costs, your cash at closing, and what rent adds up to over the years you plan to stay. It uses the Sell2Rent fee structure and the 2026 figures cited in this guide.
If you would rather compare staying put against other paths, our home cost calculator puts a leaseback, a refinance, a HELOC, and a straight sale side by side.
How sale-leaseback programs compare on cost to other ways to use your equity
A sale-leaseback is one option among several, and the right comparison is total cost over the time you actually plan to stay, not the headline rate.
Borrowing keeps the house and the appreciation, and adds a payment. As of September 9, 2026, Bankrate put the average HELOC rate at 7.26% and the average 5-year home equity loan at 8.13%. Both require income and credit qualification, which is the sticking point for a lot of homeowners who are equity rich and cash short.
A reverse mortgage has no monthly payment but front-loads cost: a 2% upfront mortgage insurance premium on the maximum claim amount, a 0.5% annual premium, and an origination fee capped at $6,000. The 2026 HECM limit is $1,249,125, and you need to be 62 or older. Interest compounds against the house. See how a reverse mortgage works.
Home equity contracts, sometimes called home equity investments, are the option to read most carefully. The CFPB found settlement amounts growing at 19.5% to 22% a year in the early years, origination fees typically 3% to 5% of the payment you receive, and disclosures that are not standardized, which makes comparing offers hard on purpose. Our post on 8 signs a home equity service could displace you covers the warning signs.
Selling and moving ends the housing cost question but starts a new one. Redfin estimates the all-in cost of a traditional sale at 6% to 10% of the price once agent compensation, closing costs, concessions, repairs, and moving are counted, and then you still have to rent or buy somewhere else.
For a fuller walk through the alternatives, see 8 home equity options for U.S. homeowners and 12 ways to cash out home equity without moving. Our comparison page lines the options up as well.
What Sell2Rent charges, and what it does not offer
Here is our side of it, stated plainly so you can hold it against anyone else's.
What you pay us: one fee, 6% of the sale price or $15,000, whichever is greater, paid at closing. Plus the ordinary seller closing costs above, which go to third parties, not to us. Then rent, fixed for the length of your lease.
What we do: you sell as-is, with no repairs, no showings, and no moving costs. Your offer comes from a pool of vetted investors, so more than one may compete for the house. Property taxes, insurance, HOA dues, and major repairs move to the new property owner. You stay in your house, your neighborhood, and your kids' school district. You can read how homeowners describe it on our reviews page, and see the full sequence on how it works.
What we do not offer, and will not pretend to:
- No guaranteed right to buy your home back. A standard Sell2Rent deal does not include a repurchase option.
- No share of future appreciation. Once you sell, price growth belongs to the new owner.
- No promise of a lease beyond the term you sign. Leases run from 1 month up to 5 years, and what happens after that is a negotiation, not a certainty.
- No claim that this beats every alternative. For some homeowners a HELOC, a refinance, or a straight sale is the better math.
If a company you are talking to will not put its version of that list in writing, that tells you something.
Who qualifies for a home sale-leaseback
Cost only matters if your house fits the program. Here is what Sell2Rent looks for, nationwide:
- Single family home, condominium, or townhouse
- Built in 1900 or later
- Lot size of 1 acre or less
- Home size of 7,000 square feet or less
- At least 30% equity
- Home value up to $1M to $2M, depending on your market
- You are the legal owner of the home
There is no credit check, because your equity is the qualification. Full detail lives in our eligibility requirements guide.
When the cost of a sale-leaseback does not make sense
Four situations where the math usually points elsewhere.
You are staying 15 or 20 more years. Over that horizon, rent compounds and appreciation you gave up compounds against you. A long stay changes the answer.
You qualify for a HELOC and only need a modest amount. If you need $40,000 and you can borrow it at 7.26%, paying a percentage of your whole house to access it is the expensive route. Compare in home equity access versus a HELOC.
Your equity is thin. Below 30%, the fee and closing costs eat too much of what is left for this to do much for you.
You were planning to move anyway. Then a traditional sale, with time to market the house properly, usually nets you more.
We would rather tell you that now than after closing. If you want a second opinion from someone with no stake in the outcome, HUD-approved counselors are free and you can find one through the CFPB directory.
Get every cost number in writing before you sign
Take this list to any company, ours included, and ask for written answers. If any of them are hard to get, that is information.
- What is the total fee, in dollars and as a percentage of my sale price?
- Are there any other fees paid to you, at closing or later?
- What is my estimated seller closing cost, itemized?
- How did you arrive at the offer price, and may I get my own appraisal?
- What is my monthly rent, and is it fixed for the whole lease term?
- How long is the lease, and what are my renewal options in writing?
- What is the security deposit, and what are the conditions for its return?
- Who pays for repairs, and which repairs specifically?
- Who pays property tax, insurance, and HOA dues after closing?
- Is there any buyback right, and if so at what price?
- What happens if I need to leave early, and what does that cost?
- What is my estimated net cash at closing, on one page?
Our post on 9 questions to vet a sale-leaseback program goes deeper on the company itself, and sale-leaseback risks to watch for covers what can go wrong.
The bottom line on home sale-leaseback costs
A home sale-leaseback costs a one-time fee plus normal closing costs, then rent for as long as you stay. At Sell2Rent that fee is 6% of the sale price or $15,000, whichever is greater. Against that, you stop paying property tax, insurance, HOA dues, and repair bills, which runs into the thousands every year. And you give up future appreciation, which is the cost that never shows up on a statement.
Whether that trade is worth it depends on your house, your equity, and how long you plan to stay. Run your own numbers, get every figure in writing, and take your time. A decision this size deserves it.
Frequently asked questions about sale-leaseback costs
How much does a sale-leaseback cost a homeowner?
Expect a program fee plus regular seller closing costs. At Sell2Rent the fee is 6% of the sale price or $15,000, whichever is greater. Redfin puts seller closing costs outside agent compensation at 1% to 3% of the sale price. On a $400,000 home that is roughly $28,000 to $36,000 in total one-time cost. After closing, your ongoing cost is rent.
Are there hidden fees in a sale-leaseback?
There should not be, and a reputable company will give you an itemized closing statement before you sign. The costs most often missed are not hidden fees at all: a below-market offer price, a security deposit taken from your proceeds, and rent that can rise at renewal. Ask for all three in writing.
Do I pay closing costs on a sale-leaseback?
Yes. Title insurance, escrow, recording fees, transfer taxes, and prorated property taxes settle at closing the same as any home sale. These go to third parties, not to the sale-leaseback company.
Do I pay capital gains tax on a sale-leaseback?
Possibly, but most homeowners are covered by the primary residence exclusion. IRS Topic No. 701 allows you to exclude up to $250,000 of gain if you file single, or $500,000 if married filing jointly, provided you owned and lived in the home for at least 24 months of the previous 5 years. Talk to your own tax preparer about your situation.
Does my rent go up in a sale-leaseback?
It depends entirely on your contract. At Sell2Rent, rent is fixed for the full lease term, and leases run from 1 month up to 5 years. The FTC warns that in this market rent "often does" increase, so get the answer in writing from any company before you sign.
What costs do I stop paying after a sale-leaseback?
Property taxes, homeowners insurance, HOA dues, and major repairs move to the new property owner. Using national averages, that is roughly $10,500 a year on a $400,000 home, before any surprise repair. You will still want renters insurance for your belongings.
Does a sale-leaseback cost more than a HELOC?
Usually yes, if you qualify for a HELOC and only need a modest amount. Bankrate put the average HELOC rate at 7.26% as of September 9, 2026. A sale-leaseback costs a percentage of your entire home value, so it tends to make sense when you need a large share of your equity, cannot qualify for financing, or want to stop carrying ownership costs altogether.
Can I buy my house back later?
Not in a standard Sell2Rent transaction. We do not offer a guaranteed repurchase right, and you should be skeptical of any program that promises one without spelling out the price and the deadline in the contract.
How much cash will I actually get at closing?
Your sale price, minus your mortgage payoff, minus the program fee, minus closing costs, minus any deposit held back. The calculator in this guide estimates it, and any company you work with should hand you that same figure on one page before you sign.
A note on this guide
This article is educational and is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Figures are national averages from the sources listed below and your own numbers will differ. The calculator is an estimate, not an offer, a quote, or a forecast. Before you sign anything, review the contract with your own attorney and tax professional, and consider a free HUD-approved housing counselor.
Sources
- ICE Mortgage Monitor, August 10, 2026, mortgage holder equity and home price growth
- Federal Trade Commission consumer alert on sale-leasebacks, October 3, 2024
- CFPB Issue Spotlight, Home Equity Contracts, January 15, 2025
- IRS Topic No. 701, Sale of your home, updated June 8, 2026
- ATTOM 2025 Property Tax Analysis, April 9, 2026
- Insurify home insurance price projections, March 18, 2026
- Zillow Research August 2026 forecast, August 26, 2026
- Zillow rent report, August 18, 2026
- Redfin, closing costs for sellers, May 2026
- Bankrate HELOC rates and home equity loan rates, September 9, 2026
- HUD Mortgagee Letter 2025-22, 2026 HECM limit, and 24 CFR 206.31, origination fee cap
- CFPB Find a Housing Counselor
