🏡 So, your house has been sitting on the market, and those dream offers still aren’t rolling in. Now you’re left scratching your head: what do I do if it doesn’t sell? For more and more homeowners, that question turns into, “Hmm… should I just rent it out instead?”

🎭 Enter the role of the accidental landlord. Yep, it’s an actual thing! As Yahoo Finance puts it:

“These ‘accidental landlords’ are homeowners who tried to sell but couldn’t fetch the price they wanted — and instead have decided to rent out their homes until conditions improve.”

Why This Is Happening So Much Right Now

Blame it on today’s market! 🏦 Business Insider spills the tea:

“While there have always been accidental landlords . . . an era of middling home sales brought on by a steep rise in borrowing rates — is minting a new wave of reluctant rental owners.”

Translation: homes are sitting longer, buyers are stretched thin, and some sellers are saying, “Forget it, I’ll rent instead.”

But here’s the catch: if you’re even thinking about renting, remember this wasn’t your original plan—and there’s a reason for that. Being a landlord isn’t just passive income and margaritas on the beach. It can be late-night plumbing emergencies, broken AC units in July, and chasing rent checks like it’s a full-time job.

So before you grab the landlord crown 👑, ask yourself these questions:

1. Does Your House Really Work as a Rental?

• Moving out of state? Long-distance landlording = 🚨 headache.

• Need repairs before it’s rentable? That’s time and $$$.

• Is your neighborhood actually popular with renters?

If you hesitated on any of these, selling may be the smarter play.

2. Are You Ready To Be “On Call”?

Sure, renting sounds like passive income, but reality check:

• 📞 “Help! The toilet’s clogged—again!” (at midnight)

• 💸 Chasing down late payments

• 🔨 Fixing surprise damage between tenants

As Redfin puts it:

“Landlords have to fix things like broken pipes, defunct HVAC systems, and structural damage . . . If you don’t have a few thousand dollars on hand, you could end up in a bind.”

3. Have You Counted the Hidden Costs?

Renting isn’t just money in, money out. Think about:

• Higher insurance (landlord policies cost ~25% more)

• Property management fees (~10% of rent if you outsource)

• Maintenance, advertising, and those awkward gaps with no tenants

Suddenly that “extra cash flow” doesn’t look quite so extra.

✨ Bottom Line: Renting can be smart—for the right person, in the right situation. But if you’re only considering it because your listing hasn’t sold, your best move might just be chatting with your agent. Together, you can tweak the price, relaunch, and attract the buyers who are actually ready to make an offer.

Sometimes, a fresh strategy beats a landlord starter kit. 😉