Rental Property Calculator: Cash Flow, Cap Rate and Cash-on-Cash Return

Analyse a rental property: monthly cash flow, NOI, cap rate, cash-on-cash return and DSCR, with vacancy, management and repairs, and the return year by year.

Cash flow per month
β€”NOI per year
β€”Cap rate
β€”Cash-on-cash return
β€”Mortgage payment (P&I)
β€”Cash needed
β€”DSCR
β€”Rent ÷ price (1% rule)
YearCash flowValueEquityTotal return

Before income tax and depreciation. Management is a share of the rent you collect; maintenance and capital expenses (roof, appliances, HVAC) are a share of the full rent. Total return = equity + cash flow received − cash invested, before selling costs.

What it does


A rental property makes money in three ways: cash flow from the rent, the loan balance the tenants pay down and appreciation. The calculator takes the rent, vacancy and every operating expense to find the NOI, subtracts the mortgage for the cash flow, and shows the cap rate, cash-on-cash return, DSCR and total return over 30 years.

How to use it


  1. Type the price, down payment, interest rate, term and closing costs.
  2. Type the rent and the expenses: vacancy, management, maintenance, capital expenses, property tax, insurance and HOA.
  3. See the monthly cash flow, the returns and the table year by year.

The arithmetic runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere and nothing is stored, so you can use these with real numbers.

Frequently asked questions


How do I calculate cash flow on a rental property?
Rent collected minus operating expenses (the NOI) minus the mortgage. A 300,000 house with 20% down at 7% and 2,500 of rent has an NOI of 18,120 a year, but the payment of 1,596.73 leaves −86.73 a month.

What is a good cash-on-cash return?
Many investors look for 8% to 12%. In the example the 69,000 invested (down payment and closing costs) earns −1.51% in cash in year 1, although the cap rate is 6.04%; the return comes from paying down the loan and appreciation.

What is the 1% rule?
A quick test: the monthly rent should be at least 1% of the price. 2,500 on 300,000 is 0.83%. A 200,000 house renting for 2,000 meets the rule and, with 25% down at 6.5%, has a positive cash flow.

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