Big Decisions 22 min read
Should You Sell or Rent Out Your House?
Should you sell your house or rent it out? Walk one household's numbers — carrying costs, vacancy, and the capital-gains clock — then score the decision.
Templates for Landlords.
Income, expense and tax tools for small and accidental landlords with one to four units — built so you can see true cash flow per unit and walk into tax time with your Schedule-E numbers already sorted. Track rent, expenses, leases, deposits and repairs from one connected file you own.
Own the records, not a subscription
Owning one to four units puts you in an awkward middle: a blank spreadsheet makes you build every formula yourself, and property-management software is built and priced for hundreds of doors. The tools here are the size that fits — structured files you own outright that track rent, flag who's late, sort expenses by tax category, count down to lease renewals, and hand you a Schedule-E year-end summary.
Sizing up a rental? Start free with the rental cash-flow calculator — no signup — then read what Schedule E is and how rental income and expenses land on it.
Wondering whether a spreadsheet is enough? Weigh a spreadsheet vs property-management software for the size of your rental.
Recommended tools
The landlord toolkit
3 templates
An income and expense workbook for long-term rentals, a P&L workbook for short-term rentals, and a home maintenance log for the upkeep behind every unit — in Excel and Google Sheets.
- $29.95 Spreadsheet
Small-Landlord (1-4 Unit) Income & Expense Workbook — Rent, Schedule-E & Cash-Flow Tracker (Excel & Google Sheets)
A landlord income and expense workbook for Excel and Google Sheets — track rent, expenses, leases, deposits, and repairs, with the Schedule-E numbers ready.
Operator OSView details - $29.95 Spreadsheet
Short-Term Rental (Airbnb & Vrbo) Owner P&L & Turnover Workbook — Profit Per Stay, Occupancy & RevPAR Tracker (Excel & Google Sheets)
A short-term rental P&L workbook for Excel and Google Sheets — net the true profit on every Airbnb and Vrbo stay after fees, cleaning, and tax.
Operator OSView details - $19.95 Spreadsheet
Home Maintenance & Warranty Log — Appliance Warranty Tracker, Repair Log & Seasonal Home Maintenance Checklist (Excel + Google Sheets)
Track every appliance warranty, repair, and seasonal task in one spreadsheet you own — type a purchase date and it flags what's still under warranty.
Life AdminView details
Where we fit
Between a blank page and rented software
Most tools force a choice between a blank spreadsheet you build from scratch and a monthly app that's overkill. Ardent Workshop is the rung in between — structure you own.
- № 01
Blank spreadsheet
Free, but you build and maintain every formula, tab and layout yourself.
- Free
- Infinite setup
- No structure
- № 02 You are here
Ardent Workshop
Owned, structured, connected workbooks — a one-time price, yours to keep.
- One-time price
- Structured & connected
- Yours to own
- № 03
Generic SaaS app
Powerful, but overkill, rented and locked-in — built for someone bigger than you.
- Monthly rent
- Overkill
- Lock-in
Reading list
Guides for small landlords
Whether to rent the house out at all, and the seasonal upkeep a rental quietly demands once you do.
