Can You Sell Properties In Monopoly? (Can You Sell Houses/Hotels?)

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Have you ever been playing Monopoly and wondered about selling a property when you need money? Maybe you heard you could, but some people say that you can’t.

Well, in this article we will go over everything you need to know about selling properties, houses, or hotels when you are playing Monopoly. 

In Monopoly, you can sell properties to other players but you cannot sell them back to the bank. You can mortgage your properties to the bank to get a portion of the price that you paid but you cannot sell the property back to the bank entirely.

You can sell your houses and hotels back to the bank but you will pay a 50% penalty to sell those houses and hotels. You can not sell houses and hotels to other players though, only back to the bank at a loss.

In Monopoly, you can not sell a property with houses or hotels on it to another player either. You must first sell the houses and hotels back to the bank (at a 50% loss) and then the property can be sold to another player.

Since it is against the rules to sell the property back to the bank what you can do instead is sell it to other players. They might be willing to buy it (even at more than what you paid) to keep the player that you owe money from getting their hands on it.

If there are only two people left in the game then you are just plain out of luck unless you can raise enough money to pay your debt by selling houses/hotels and mortgaging the properties that you own.

If you would like to know more about selling properties, houses, and hotels then you will want to keep reading the rest of this article.

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How To Sell Property In Monopoly

If you find yourself on the brink of bankruptcy in your Monopoly game then selling off some properties is a good way to extend the game and possibly claw your way back to the top. Of course, this is a difficult proposition but it can be done if you are smart with what properties you sell.

But how exactly can you sell property while playing Monopoly?

In Monopoly, the only way to sell property is to do so with another player. So any properties that you are looking to sell will need to actually have demand from another player.

For example, what I have found is the best way to sell property in Monopoly to raise some cash is to sell a property to someone that gives them a set. Of course, the downside to this is that you are allowing them to be able to build houses and hotels.

However, if you get enough money from selling the property you can make sure that they aren’t able to build houses and hotels for a while (since they won’t have enough money), and hopefully, by then they will land on some other property and stay poor enough where they can’t build.

Another trick that I’ve learned over the years is to get money and a non-matching property from them. Say for example you sell them an orange property to complete their set but they also own a single red property.

If you don’t own any red property they might not blink twice about throwing it in with the cash to make the deal. But then that gives you the opportunity to sell that red property to the player who holds both of the other reds for a high price.

Essentially you get money from multiple players by having them throw in a property that seems worthless to you.

Now if you are playing with more experienced players this trick might not work very well. However, I have used it multiple times against friends and family and they only think about what properties I have and not really about who I could then trade that property with later.

Can You Sell A Mortgaged Property In Monopoly?

If you have assets that you have already mortgaged and you need some additional money can you then sell that mortgaged property? Can a property that is mortgaged in Monopoly still be sold to another player?

In Monopoly, you can sell or trade a mortgaged property to another player. However, the property will remain mortgaged and the new owner of the property will be required to pay off the mortgage value before they can build on that or other properties in the set.

So although you can buy and sell properties that are mortgaged in Monopoly the debt is still due to the bank. So if you are considering buying a property (or trading for it) then you will want to take into account the amount that you will have to pay back to the bank when making the deal.

There is also an interest payment due to the bank when you pay off the mortgage (10%) so make sure that you also remember that when buying or trading for a mortgaged property.

Buying (or trading for) a mortgaged property in Monopoly is a great way to get a deal as most of the time that means the owner of the property is having money issues. If you act accordingly you can often get a much better deal on completing your property set than if you had to buy or trade for it with a player that wasn’t having money issues.

So no matter whether you have mortgaged or unmortgaged properties they can be sold or traded in the same way. As long as it is a private transaction (cannot involve the bank) and you have an agreed price or trade between one or more players then a mortgaged property can be sold or traded.

Can You Sell Houses/Hotels In Monopoly?

Everyone knows the way to win in Monopoly is by building houses and hotels on your property sets so that players have to pay you a small fortune every time that they land on them. Since everyone knows this often it is a race to see who can build houses and hotels the fastest.

However, if you overextend yourself when buying houses or hotels you might find that you have no money to pay your opponent when you land on one of their properties. In that case, you might have to raise some funds.

Obviously, you can mortgage properties (that haven’t been built on) or make trades to get some additional funds, but can you sell your houses or hotels as well?

In Monopoly, you can sell both houses and hotels. However, there is a 50% (YES 50!) penalty to do so. So if you paid $100 to build a house when you sell it back to the bank you will only get $50 back.

Say for example you have built on the Orange property set (Tenessee Ave, St. James Place, & New York Ave.). Each house or hotel that you purchase will cost you $100 to build. So to go from nothing to having hotels on each of the properties will cost you $1,500 in total.

If after a while you run out of money and you were to need to sell all of those hotels and houses back to the bank you would only get back $750!

That is why you need to be incredibly careful when building on your property sets. You will want to make sure that you have enough cash (or mortgageable properties) so that you don’t have to sell your houses and hotels if you land on someone else’s property.

If you are on the brink of losing and you need to take a gamble by building on your properties that is fine. As long as you know the risk you are taking and that you could lose out on half of the money that you spent to build those houses and hotels.

How Much Do You Sell Houses/Hotels For In Monopoly?

When playing Monopoly you will want to avoid having to sell your houses and hotels at all costs. Of course, selling your houses and hotels means you won’t be able to collect large rents when people land on your property set, but that isn’t the only reason why you want to avoid selling your houses and hotels.

When playing Monopoly when you sell your houses or hotels you only get back half of what you paid for them. That means if it cost you $100 to build a house or hotel you will only get back $50 when selling it.

That massive penalty when selling houses or hotels back to the bank is another reason why you will want to avoid selling them.

How Much Do You Get When Selling Houses Or Hotels On Each Property In Monopoly?

Exactly how much do you get back when selling houses or hotels in Monopoly? Well, it obviously depends on the property and how much you paid for the houses and hotels in the first place.

So below, I will give you the exact amount that you will get back when selling a house or hotel back to the bank for each of the different properties on the Monopoly board.

• Brown Property Set (Baltic & Mediterranean): Houses & hotels are purchased for $50 and sold back to the bank for $25.
• Light Blue Property Set (Oriental, Connecticut, & Vermont): Houses & hotels are purchased for $50 and sold back to the bank for $25.
• Pink Property Set (St. Charles, Virginia, & States): Houses & hotels are purchased for $100 and sold back to the bank for $50.
• Orange Property Set (St James, Tennessee, & New York): Houses & hotels are purchased for $100 and sold back to the bank for $50.
• Red Property Set (Kentucky, Indiana, & Illinois): Houses & hotels are purchased for $150 and sold back to the bank for $75.
• Yellow Property Set (Atlantic, Ventnor, & Marvin Gardens): Houses & hotels are purchased for $150 and sold back to the bank for $75.
• Green Property Set (North Carolina, Pacific, & Pennsylvania): Houses & hotels are purchased for $200 and sold back to the bank for $100.
• Dark Blue Property Set (Boardwalk & Park Place): Houses & hotels are purchased for $200 and sold back to the bank for $100.

As you can see, when you sell houses or hotels back to the bank you will have to sell them at half price.

How Do You Purchase Properties In Monopoly?

If you are new to Monopoly you might be wondering how you purchase properties like the utilities, railroads, and color sets. There are only two ways to purchase properties in Monopoly (if you play according to the official rules. Those are:

• By landing on an unsold property as traveling around the board.
• When someone lands on a property and chooses not to buy it. It is then put up for auction, and bidding on the property takes place. The property will be sold to the highest bidder.

As players move their tokens around the board they could land on any number of spaces. If they land on property like free parking, community chest, chance, go to jail space, etc. they must follow the rules or instructions for that space (such as drawing community chest cards or chance cards).

However, if the token lands on an unowned property then they can either purchase it or it can go up for auction. Most of the time it is best to ALWAYS buy the property as you can often sell it for far more than the purchase price. So rather than that extra money going to the bank via auction, it is better to buy it and then sell it to another player who has the other properties of that color group.

If you hate how long Monopoly you can play a time-limited game. This short game has special rules for passing out the real estate that speeds up the game significantly.

There are two main ways that you can set up this game. Either you can place twelve properties out on the board and have players roll the dice to get them at the start of the game or you can have the banker pass out the properties.

To do this method fairly the banker shuffles the property cards and then passes out the top card to each player around the table. Each round the banker can alternate handing out properties from the bottom of the deck and the top of the deck.

Once all of the properties are passed out the game can begin.

Mortgaging Properties In Monopoly

When you mortgage a property in Monopoly you can get half of the original purchase price from the bank. However, you have to pay back 10% interest so it is best not to mortgage properties unless your financial standing requires it.

The first situation that could require you to mortgage some of your properties is the need to raise cash quickly. In Monopoly, a player can decide to mortgage their properties at any time as long as it is their turn.

One thing that you need to remember though, is that if you mortgage a titled deed with the bank you will be required to pay back the money with a 10% interest penalty to unmortgage the property. Since you are using the bank’s money you have to pay interest to use it.

The owner also has some rules that they need to abide by when they are mortgaging a property. Before you can mortgage a title deed card in Monopoly you have to sell any building located on that color group at half the price you paid for them.

The only type of properties that can be mortgaged are unimproved properties so before you can collect money from the banker for a mortgaged property you will have to remove all of the houses or hotels that are on that set. You cannot mortgage any properties where there is an improved property anywhere on that color set.

This is why you will want to make sure that you do not overbuild and leave yourself with no cash. If you do, you will find yourself selling back your houses, and losing money in the process. 

Another thing to consider with mortgaged property is that your opponents can avoid paying rent if they land on them. So the only time mortgaging a property really makes sense is either to prevent a potential bankrupt player from losing the game or to take a risk towards the end of the game to get funds to build houses and hotels as a last-ditch effort to win.

This is incredibly risky so if no one lands on your property and you land on someone else’s improved property on your next turn it could mean the end of the game for you.

Exchanging Properties in Monopoly

There is no general Monopoly rule that states that you cannot buy property on the first round around the board or that you have to wait a certain amount of time before buying or trading properties.

As per some “house rules”, no property exchange can occur until all properties are possessed by someone. Now, once that happens, play stops, and a whirlwind of exchanging and trading continues until all players are satisfied.

Trading can happen at any time although most players prefer if you wait until your own turn to propose a trade. If someone proposing a trade to another player though you can feel free to talk with them and make a better or different offer as well.

In the event that you are exchanging property for cash and attempt to swindle the other player by giving him the wrong bills, the rules state that you will be sent to prison for three turns and should pay twofold to escape prison. You should then also compensate the player with the right sum.

Housing Rules In Monopoly

One of the rules for Monopoly is that you have to own all of the properties of a certain type before you can begin building. Some house rules allow you to build as soon as you own a single property but this defeats the point of the game which is to buy and trade properties to get a “monopoly” of a color set before you can build on it.

Another regular house rule is that people can build houses or hotels even if there are none of them currently available. However, the official Monopoly rules show that there are only a limited number of houses.

In turn that can lead to building shortages which means people won’t be able to improve their properties and charge you higher rents.

This is a real strategy that people will use (building only four houses instead of hotels) so that way they can prevent other players from being able to build much on their properties. That is part of the game so by making it so that people can go directly to building hotels (even if there aren’t enough houses) you are changing the rules of Monopoly.

A Little Bit About Monopoly

Monopoly is a board game currently published by Hasbro. In the game, players roll two six-sided dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties, and developing them with houses and hotels. 

Players collect rent from their opponents, with the goal being to drive them into bankruptcy. Money can also be gained or lost through Chance and Community Chest cards, and tax squares; players can end up in jail, which they cannot move from until they have met one of several conditions. 

The game has numerous house rules, and hundreds of different editions exist, as well as many spin-offs and related media. Monopoly has become a part of international popular culture, having been licensed locally in more than 103 countries and printed in more than 37 languages.

Conclusion

We have seen that you most certainly can sell properties back to the bank. In two situations, when you are in need of cash and when you want to sell one property of the same color group. You can then choose to mortgage back to the bank at half the original cost if you are in need of money.

Although most people do not want to sell their houses, or mortgage their properties, sometimes this is needed to avoid bankruptcy.