Rental Property Calculator

Operating Expense Assumptions

Monthly Cash Flow

$123.86

The Numbers

  • Monthly mortgage payment: $1,264.14
  • Total monthly expenses: $2,076.14
  • Annual net operating income (NOI): $16,656.00
  • Cap rate: 6.66%
  • Cash-on-cash return: 2.7%

Analysis

  • This property is projected to cash flow positively by 123.86/month after all expenses, including the mortgage payment.

Notes

  • A 6.66% cap rate is one way to compare this property against others — commonly-cited healthy ranges vary a lot by market (often 4-10%), so weigh it against comparable properties in the same area rather than a single universal number.

Recommendations

  • Compare the down payment and monthly payment against buying with a standard mortgage instead of an investment loan using the Mortgage Calculator.
  • If you already own another home, see how much equity you could borrow against instead of a fresh down payment with the Home Equity / HELOC Calculator.

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Disclaimer

This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, medical, legal, or tax advice. Always consult a qualified professional about your specific situation.

How This Calculator Works

A rental property’s cash flow is what’s left of the rent after every expense — including the mortgage — is paid. Enter the purchase price, financing terms, expected rent, and operating expenses, and this calculator shows the monthly cash flow along with the cap rate and cash-on-cash return, two standard metrics investors use to compare properties.

The Formula

  1. Monthly cash flow = Monthly RentTotal Monthly Costs\vA{\text{Monthly Rent}} - \text{Total Monthly Costs} (mortgage payment + property tax + insurance + HOA + maintenance + vacancy allowance + management fee).
  2. Net Operating Income (NOI) = Annual RentAnnual Operating Expenses\vA{\text{Annual Rent}} - \text{Annual Operating Expenses}, deliberately excluding the mortgage payment — NOI describes the property itself, independent of how it’s financed.
  3. Cap rate = NOI÷Purchase Price\text{NOI} \div \vB{\text{Purchase Price}} — a quick way to compare properties regardless of financing, though what counts as a “good” cap rate varies significantly by market.
  4. Cash-on-cash return = Annual Cash Flow÷Total Cash Invested\text{Annual Cash Flow} \div \vC{\text{Total Cash Invested}} (down payment + closing costs) — the return on the investor’s own money, as opposed to the property’s total value.

Worked Example

A $250,000\vB{\$250{,}000} property, 20% down, a 6.5% 30-year mortgage, renting for $2,200/month\vA{\$2{,}200\text{/month}}, with $3,000/year property tax, $1,200/year insurance, 8% maintenance, 5% vacancy, 8% management, and $5,000 closing costs:

  1. Monthly mortgage payment (on the $200,000 loan): $1,264.14.
  2. Total monthly expenses (mortgage + tax + insurance + maintenance + vacancy + management): $2,076.14.
  3. Monthly cash flow: 2,2002,076.14=123.86\vA{2{,}200} - 2{,}076.14 = 123.86 — this property is projected to cash flow positively at these assumptions.
  4. Annual NOI: $16,656, for a cap rate of 16,656÷250,000=6.66%16{,}656 \div \vB{250{,}000} = 6.66\%.
  5. Cash-on-cash return: 2.70% on the $55,000\vC{\$55{,}000} actually invested.

Source: Standard rental property cash flow, NOI, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return formulas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good cap rate?

There's no single universal answer — cap rates commonly cited as healthy (often 4-10%) vary a lot by market, property type, and risk tolerance. Compare a property's cap rate against similar properties in the same area rather than a fixed target.

Why doesn't Net Operating Income (NOI) include the mortgage payment?

NOI is meant to describe the property's own performance independent of how it's financed — the same property has the same NOI whether bought entirely in cash or with a large mortgage. Cap rate (NOI divided by price) is comparable across properties for exactly this reason.

What is cash-on-cash return, and how is it different from cap rate?

Cap rate measures return relative to the property's total price. Cash-on-cash return measures return relative to just the actual cash you put in (down payment plus closing costs) — it accounts for financing, so a highly-leveraged purchase can show a very different cash-on-cash return than its cap rate would suggest.