Rent out or sell your apartment now? How to run the numbers

Renting out instead of selling now pays off if the rent, after our fee and tax, covers more of your fixed costs than a bigger price cut would cost you, and if you can wait a year or more for the money from the sale. If you rent out an owner-occupied apartment (ejerlejlighed) that you no longer live in for at least 12 months, the profit is taxed as personal income. If you have lived in the apartment, the sale afterwards can still be tax-free. But renting out gives you an income while you wait, not a guarantee of a better price.

A price cut now or rental income: what you are comparing

According to Nordea's housing economist (in Danish), the average discount on Copenhagen apartments in August was 1.8% off the latest asking price, against 0.8% in the autumn and winter of 2025/26. An 80 m² apartment in the City of Copenhagen cost DKK 6,185,997 on average in September, according to home and Danske Bank (in Danish). A 1.8% discount is about DKK 111,000, and every further percentage point costs about DKK 62,000.

If you wait to sell, you keep paying service charges, property tax, interest, insurance and maintenance, whether the apartment stands empty or is let. So the question is whether the rent, after the fee, your costs and tax, outweighs what you might gain or lose on the price by waiting.

Nobody knows the last part. In July, Nykredit (in Danish) expected apartment prices in Copenhagen to rise 2.0% through 2027. In September, Nordea's housing economist wrote that she would not be surprised if prices fall over the autumn and winter. The market figures are in our article on what to do when it is hard to sell your apartment.

Worked example: 12 months of renting out through us

The example rests on one assumption: a rent of DKK 15,000 a month. It is a figure for the calculation, not an estimate for your apartment. The fee is our price for long-term rental, 8.5% excl. VAT of the monthly rent, with 25% VAT on top (see pricing).

Item	Per month	12 months
Rent (assumption)	DKK 15,000	DKK 180,000
Fee, 8.5% excl. VAT	DKK 1,275	DKK 15,300
VAT on the fee, 25%	DKK 318.75	DKK 3,825
Rent after the fee	DKK 13,406.25	DKK 160,875
Your fixed costs as owner	Your own figure	Your own figure
Deposit, at most 3 months' rent	Up to DKK 45,000 once	Not income
Prepaid rent, at most 3 months' rent	Up to DKK 45,000 once	Rent for the last part of the period

From the rent after the fee, you deduct your fixed costs. The rest is taxed as described below. The deposit is security for the tenant's obligations on moving out, and after notice has been given the tenant can set prepaid rent off against the last part of the tenancy (§ 59 of the Rent Act, in Danish). There is more on deposit and prepaid rent.

When the tenancy is justified by the sale, it must have a fixed end date. The lease and the buyer's takeover are covered in our guide to renting out your apartment while it is for sale. An ordinary lease has no limit on days. The 70-day limit in § 5 of the Summer Houses Act (in Danish) only applies to holiday rentals of your own permanent home. What that means once you have moved out, and what the residence requirement demands, is covered in our article on what to do when it is hard to sell your apartment.

How much rent can you charge?

The rent carries the whole calculation, and you do not set it yourself. It can only be agreed freely in buildings taken into use after 31 December 1991 and in certain conversions (§ 54 of the Rent Act, in Danish). For a let owner-occupied apartment in Copenhagen, the rules depend on whether, on 1 January 1995, the apartment was in a building with six or fewer apartments or with seven or more (City of Copenhagen, in Danish):

• Seven or more: as a rule, cost-based rent (§ 19). The rent rests on the building's necessary operating costs, such as taxes, charges, administration and insurance, on maintenance and on a return on the property's value (§§ 24 and 25, City of Copenhagen, in Danish). Your interest and repayments are not on the list.
• Six or fewer: the rent is compared with similar apartments with cost-based rent and may not be more than 10% higher. According to the City of Copenhagen (in Danish), you cannot calculate the rent from your own costs for loans or service charges.

So the rent may be lower than your costs including loans, and then it covers part of them rather than producing a profit. Read about rent adjustment, or get a figure for the rent with the rent calculator.

Tax on the rental income while you wait

Your situation	How the rent is taxed
You have moved out and let for at least 12 months	Business letting: the profit is personal income, and you keep accounts. You can deduct property taxes, maintenance, administration, insurance and interest, among other things, and you pay no property value tax for the rental period (skat.dk, in Danish).
You have moved out and let for less than 12 months	The basic allowance in § 15 P of the Tax Assessment Act does not apply when you no longer have the home at your disposal, and the result is calculated under the State Tax Act (the Legal Guide, in Danish). Talk to an accountant.
You still have the home at your disposal and let it to the same tenant for 4 months or more	A basic allowance of 1 1/3% of the property value, at least DKK 24,000, or accounts, which you cannot later switch away from (skat.dk, in Danish).

Administration is among the deductible costs in a business letting, so our fee belongs in your accounts. See our article on tax deductions when renting out.

Can you still sell tax-free afterwards?

As a rule yes, if you have lived in the apartment. Under the owner-occupier rule (parcelhusreglen), the gain is tax-free when the home has served as a home for you or your household for all or part of the time you owned it. According to skat.dk (in Danish), you do not have to live there when you sell, but it must have been your real home, and the sale can be tax-free even if you have let it.

According to the Legal Guide (in Danish), the sale is not tax-free if the property has changed character since you lived there, as when a house had been let to an institution that ran a residential care home. On the other hand, the National Tax Tribunal found a possible gain tax-free where an owner had lived in a house for many years and let it on moving out (SKM2010.487.LSR). The Legal Guide mentions no time limit, and each case is assessed on its facts. See also the debate on tax-free gains on home sales.

When renting out makes sense, and when you should sell instead

Consider renting out when:

• you can do without the money from the sale for the whole rental period,
• the rent after the fee and tax covers a large part of your fixed costs,
• you have lived in the apartment, so a later sale can be tax-free,
• you can live with a fixed end date, so the buyer only takes over once the tenant has moved out.

Sell now instead if you need the money for your next home, or if the rent is so far below your costs that waiting costs more than the discount.

If you choose to rent out, we handle all of it: the listing, tenant screening, a lease with an end date and the reason written in, move-in and move-out inspections and collecting the rent. You pay 8.5% excl. VAT of the monthly rent. Cleaning and photography before move-in can be charged separately by agreement. See our page on how to rent out temporarily.

To find out what your apartment could earn, get a personal estimate with the rental income calculator within 24 hours, or contact us about long-term rental.

The article is based on rules and market figures published up to and including 7 October 2026. It is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Sources

• The Rent Act (lejeloven), Act no. 341/2022 (Retsinformation, in Danish)
• The Summer Houses Act (sommerhusloven), Consolidated Act no. 400/2024 (Retsinformation, in Danish)
• Renting out a home you do not live in yourself (skat.dk, in Danish)
• Renting out a room or a home you live in yourself (skat.dk, in Danish)
• Selling an owner-occupied home (skat.dk, in Danish)
• The Legal Guide C.H.3.4.1.1.1 (Danish Tax Agency, in Danish)
• The Legal Guide C.H.2.1.15.1 (Danish Tax Agency, in Danish)
• Let owner-occupied and co-op apartments (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• Six or fewer apartments in a building (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• Seven or more apartments in a building (City of Copenhagen, in Danish)
• The party in the Copenhagen apartment market is over, 15.09.2026 (Nordea, in Danish)
• Boligbrief September 2026, 05.10.2026 (home and Danske Bank, in Danish)
• House price forecast, 02.07.2026 (Nykredit, in Danish)