California has been in the midst of a sizzling seller’s market right now with demand for housing and tight inventory driving up prices through the roof. If you’re planning to make a move, selling would likely be a great option.

But what about renting out your home and turning it into an income property? If the numbers line up, would it be worth it for you to hang on to your home and generate some income through rent, or should you just cut your ties and sell before moving on to something else?

Before you choose which route to take, you should ask yourself a few important questions to ensure you’re making a sound decision.

Do you have unrealistic expectations about hanging onto your home?

You might want to rent out your home instead of selling it as a means of making a passive income and trying your hand at real estate investing. But you may even just want to rent rather than sell so you can hang onto your beloved home that you’ve developed an emotional attachment to. If that’s the case, be sure that your decision to rent it out is based on sound research and number-crunching just to keep your home in your possession.

The need to hold onto a home by renting it out can turn out to be a bad decision for some homeowners. Tenants may not necessarily care for your home the way you would, so if you are particular about how your home is lived in, you may be sorely disappointed if renters are hard on your home and leave it in poor shape. If you are considering renting the home just to hang onto it, be sure that you’ve carefully considered the possibility that it might have to be repaired and improved between renters.

How much is the average rent in the neighborhood?

The idea of collecting a rent check every month to cover your mortgage might sound very attractive, but make sure you can command the amount of rent you need to cover your mortgage. Before you start looking for tenants, do some research into what the average rent is in the area for a property like yours. Don’t just look at what current listings are asking, but take a look at recently leased properties to see what they’ve been rented out for.

This is where a real estate agent comes in very handy – they’re not just for buying or selling. These professionals will be able to pull a report that lists similar properties in your area that have been recently rented out and the rent price they’ve been able to command. This will give you an approximate idea of what you can potentially rent your home out for.

Will the rent (and the costs of renting) cover the mortgage payments?

Once you’ve figured out how much rent you can realistically charge, your next step is to do some math to see if the rent covers all expenses related to operating the property. Unless you’ve got a sizeable bank account that doesn’t rely on paying for the mortgage and all other expenses, you’ll want to be sure to factor in all expenses and determine whether or not the rent you charge adequately covers all related costs.

Consider the following expenses that you’ll be responsible for paying:

Mortgage (including both principal and interest)

Property taxes

Homeowner’s insurance

HOA fees (if applicable)

Landlord insurance

Advertising fees

Maintenance and repairs

Property management fees (if you’re paying someone else to manage the property)

Is there a chance that you could move back?

You might have thought about renting instead of selling because there’s a chance that you could be moving back. Maybe you’ve been temporarily transferred to another office for work or simply want a change of scenery for a little while. Whatever your situation might be, there may be a possibility that you could be moving back to the area

If that’s the case, renting may be a viable option, as it could actually be cheaper and less complicated to rent rather than go through the sales process, then have to find a new home to purchase when you return.

Are you looking to take advantage of tax deductions?

Renting out a home can offer you some tax deductions that can help to offset the costs associated with carrying an investment property. In the majority of cases, you can claim deductions on any depreciation related to the home.

In the simplest of calculations, your annual depreciation would be the price paid for the home and whatever you spent on improving it (not including land value) divided by 27.5 years. So, if the home cost you $400,000, less $50,000 for land value, your annual depreciation would be about $12,727 ($350,000 ÷ 27.5 years). You can also deduct any repairs and property taxes related to the investment property. These deductions can go a long way in reducing your overall expenses.

Will housing prices continue to increase over the near future?

If you believe housing prices will continue to increase at a rapid pace over the next few years, it might make sense to hang onto the home in order to sell at a much higher price point and make an even bigger profit, if you can carry an additional mortgage.

However, if you wait too long to sell, you could be faced with capital gains taxes, which brings us to our next question.

Have you considered capital gains taxes if you sell?

If you sell a home that’s not your primary residence, you will be required to pay capital gains taxes. The property would be considered your primary residence if you live in it for two out of the five years before you sell it. But if you sell after renting for more than three years, that home won’t be considered your primary residence anymore, which means you’d be faced with a potentially hefty capital gains tax bill when you sell.

If you’re planning to rent out your home, make sure you understand how much you might possibly have to pay in capital gains taxes. You may even want to move back into your home in order to make sure the home qualifies as your primary residence before selling.

Can you buy another home without the proceeds of selling your current property?

The majority of repeat homebuyers tend to use the proceeds of the sale of their homes to be put towards a new home purchase. Considering how expensive a home purchase is, any amount of money that can be tapped into is a great help.

If you need the equity in your current home to be used as a down payment for a new home, then selling might be your best bet. On the other hand, if you can manage buying a new home without depending on the proceeds of your current property, then renting might be financially possible for you.

Are you prepared to become a landlord?

Even if the numbers make sense to rent, have you considered what being a landlord would be like? In a perfect world, you’d be able to find an awesome tenant right away who will pay rent on time every month and take great care of your property. But that’s not always the case.

You’ll need to be prepared to market the property for rent, schedule showings, take calls from your tenants, collect rent checks, maintain the property and make repairs, and deal with complaints. This can be aggravating and can take up a lot of your time. And if you don’t live very close to the home, that can make the job of a landlord even more difficult.

Of course, you can always hire a property management company to handle these tasks for you, but you’ll have to pay them. Just make sure this added expense doesn’t eat too much into your profits.

Are you educated on tenant and landlord rights?

You can get yourself into real trouble if you make a move that violates the landlord-tenant laws in your jurisdiction. These rules dictate how you conduct yourself as a landlord, including how much you can increase the rent and how you’re allowed to evict renters. Make sure you’ve familiarized yourself with these rules and regulations to avoid landing in legal hot water.

The Bottom Line

If it’s time to move, selling is always the more obvious choice. But if you have valid reasons for holding onto your home and have crunched the numbers, renting might be a financially viable alternative. Before you make your decision, be sure to consult with a real estate professional who has experience dealing with both sales and rentals in your area to find out which option is best suited for your situation.

A real Christmas tree can be a significant fire hazard if it’s left indoors to dry out for too long. When the holidays are over and the time has come to take the tree down, you can always drop the tree off at a recycling center or tree drop-off area in your community, or even leave it curbside to be picked up on a designated pick-up day if applicable.

But there are other ways that you can recycle that Christmas tree that has added some festive cheer to your interior throughout the holidays. Here are a few ideas to help give you some inspiration.

1. Use it in Your Garden

Your garden can benefit from your old Christmas tree in a number of ways. For starters, you can shred it and use it as mulch to nourish the soil. The pine needles can add also some much-needed moisture to your garden since they are slow to decompose and aren’t prone to developing any mold.

They’re also great for insulating the garden if you live in northern parts of the state where it can get pretty cold outside. Wood chips from evergreen trees are also great for keeping unwanted insects and critters out of garden beds thanks to the scent.

2. Create an Animal Sanctuary

Whether you have livestock living on your property or simply have an affinity for animals and want to give them a place to rest comfortably, you can use tree chips made from shredding the Christmas tree to be used as bedding.

You can even leave the tree in one piece and place it outdoors to be used for birds. They can either use the tree as a habitat or can feed off of bird feeders hung from the boughs of the tree. But once the tree dries out too much, it should be safely discarded to avoid any fire hazards.

3. Add it to a Pond or Lake For the Fish

Local wildlife and other animals aren’t the only creatures of nature that can benefit from your old Christmas tree. Even the fish from a nearby body of water can take advantage of it.

If you live nearby a lake or pond, or if you have one on your own property, you can toss the tree in there to provide a natural habitat for fish. As the tree decomposes, it will attract algae which the fish can then eat.

The tree may even serve as a habitat for fish that are seeking shelter from the cold and protection against predators. Just make sure the tree hasn’t been chemically-treated and that all decorations have been removed. Also, get any necessary permission from your municipality if need be.

4. Make Something Crafty

If you’re the creative type, you might want to use the material from your Christmas tree to create something unique. You can saw the trunk into discs to be used as beverage coasters or even to edge your garden or walkway.

You might even want to place them around your yard in a decorative manner that can also serve as a resting place for squirrels, chipmunks, or birds. If you’re using the discs inside, make sure you seal them first to avoid any leakage from the wood.

With a little imagination and creativity, there are all sorts of things you can make with an old tree.

5. Steep Some Tea

Rather than toss the pine needles from the tree, save some of them to brew yourself a pot of tea. Just boil a handle of needles for a few minutes until the desired strength is achieved (usually no more than 10 minutes).

Not only will the wonderful aroma fill the space, tea made from steeped pine needles can be very healthy for you. Pine needles have tons of vitamin A, vitamin C, and antioxidants, which have can help ward off chronic illnesses and keep your eyes healthy and strong.

Just make sure that no chemicals have been applied to the tree. In addition, identify what type of evergreen tree it is to make sure it isn’t a poisonous breed. For instance, Norfolk Island Pine and Ponderosa Pines are poisonous if consumed, so be sure to verify exactly what sort of tree the needles come from before you steep that cup.

6. Use the Pine Needles as an Indoor Air Freshener

Boiling a few pine needles as tea isn’t the only way to sweeten the smell of your home. You can also crush the needles and place them in bowls that you can leave out on tabletops, shelves, and counters.

They can be placed on their own or combined with other lovely-smelling things that give off wonderful aromas, such as cloves or cinnamon sticks. Just make sure to keep the needles away from any open flames like fireplaces or candles to avoid any potential fire hazards.

The Bottom Line

Your Christmas tree has done its job adding to your home’s holiday decor over the past few weeks, but it’s just about time to retire it. While it can be somewhat sad to take it down after spending all that time decorating it, knowing that the tree is being used for another purpose might help. Consider any one – or all – of the above idea to repurpose your old Christmas tree.

Much like a mechanic might be more likely to notice an odd sound coming from a car, an interior designer will be more inclined to spot problems with the decor in your home. It’s what they do every day and is something they’ve been trained for.

Interior designers notice dozens of traits in a home – particularly the negative ones – including the following.

1. Poor Flow

While the first thing that you might notice about another person’s house is their taste in decor, one of the first things that interior designers spot is the flow of the space. How the furniture is placed impacts flow of traffic, and if your furniture is not arranged properly, it could interrupt how people are able to move around in a room.

This issue is more common with open floor plans which can cause some confusion with homeowners when it comes to placing furniture in appropriate spots. Adding pieces in the wrong places actually cuts off the open concept, which is the opposite of what this type of floor plan is supposed to offer. One major blunder that homeowners often make with open floor plans is putting a sofa against a wall in a large room, which can actually make a room feel smaller than it really is.

Sometimes there’s little you can do about a poor layout if there are architectural mishaps that make furniture arrangement difficult, such as the odd placement of doorways or overhead light wiring connections.

But there are ways to counter these issues with the proper placement of furniture, which can improve function and flow of a room. Avoid having too many pieces in the area, and arrange chairs and sofas in such a way that they face focal points – such as televisions or fireplaces – without you having to go out of your way to move around them.

2. Too Much Clutter

When it comes to improving the look of any room in the home, less is usually more. Too much “stuff” in a room can make it feel overly cluttered, and we’re not just talking about trash. Even your decor and accents can create a cluttered look in your home if there’s just too much of them.

Not everything you own or hold dear to you necessarily has to be on display. Too many little gadgets can create visual confusion and make a room feel uncomfortable. Instead, pick just a few pieces to keep out and make sure there is plenty of surface space between each piece.

3. No Theme

Every room should ideally have some sort of theme. Having a theme makes it easier to furnish and decorate a room to keep some continuity in line. Without some uniformity in colors or style, the room can feel a bit off-balance.

One way to avoid this issue is to pick one color – ideally a neutral hue – and build on that by adding just a couple of other more prominent colors that complement the base color to ensure some level of coordination.

4. Off-Scale Pieces

Whether you’ve got oversized pieces in a small room or many small pieces in a large room, failure to furnish according to scale can make a space feel a little bit off. Interior designers have an uncanny ability to spot rooms that lack proportion to the pieces within them.

Before you pick out your furniture and accent decor, measure the room they’re going to be placed in. It’s important to pay attention to the size of pieces relative to the size of the rooms they are being put in.

5. Bad Lighting

You could have the best layout and properly arranged furniture that’s to scale with the size of your room, but if the lighting is inadequate, your interior decor will suffer. Just because the room doesn’t have lots of natural light flowing in doesn’t mean you can’t adequately illuminate the space. With the right types and amount of lighting, you can make a massive difference to the look and feel of the rooms in your home.

Consider layering the lighting in each room of your home. For instance, your kitchen could have pot lights, pendants lamps, a central chandelier, and under-cabinet lighting, while your bedroom could have recessed lighting, wall sconces, and table lamps. Changing the ambiance and look of a room can be easily and quickly done just by making some adjustments to the lighting, but many homeowners often overlook this important design element.

6. Drapes That Are Too Short (Or Long)

Ideally, your window drapes should just graze the floor. Any gap between the bottom of the drapes and the floor itself make your window treatments look like they’re too short for the room. You might notice this design flaw, but interior designers definitely do.

The same can be said about drapes that are too long. Any more than a couple of inches of extra fabric can make your room look as though the ceilings are very low. To avoid this blunder, make sure you meticulously measure both the space between the floor and the drapery rod, as well as the length of the drapes themselves.

7. Wrong-Sized Area Rugs

This is an issue that interior designers see all the time and is a mistake that can compromise the decor of the room. No matter what size your living room is, an area rug smaller than 8 feet by 10 feet will make it look out of place. Anything smaller than this size will make it look as if you’ve mistakenly placed a doormat in the middle of the room.

A small rug might be fine in a foyer or at the foot of your bed, but it will take away from the esthetics of your room. Go for rugs that are big enough in surface area that they can easily accommodate an entire sofa.

8. Lack of Character and Personal Style

The way your home is decorated should say something about you and your personality. Designers are often able to get a sense of your personal taste and style by the way you’ve decorated and furnished your home. But simply mimicking what you saw in a magazine or furniture store won’t showcase your personality.

While interior designers certainly help their clients outfit their homes with stylish pieces, they don’t sacrifice homeowners’ own personality and tastes as a result. What an interior designer might like or dislike doesn’t matter if the end result is something that reflects their clients’ lifestyle.

The Bottom Line

If an interior designer visited your home today, would any of the above factors be a problem? If so, perhaps a call to a professional might be in order. You’d be amazed at what a few subtle changes in your home’s decor or furniture placement can do to the overall look and feel of your interior.