Rental property
Rental Property Cash Flow Calculator
Model acquisition, financing, individual operating costs, income growth and a future sale. All returns are before income tax.
Calculate your result
What this calculator estimates
Calculate monthly cash flow and cap rate. It combines the inputs below to produce Monthly cash flow. Every assumption remains editable so the estimate can reflect the property, financing and location being evaluated.
Worked example
Using the displayed sample assumptions, the calculator produces -$252. This is an illustration, not a market quote. Change one input at a time to understand what drives the result.
Inputs and assumptions
- Purchase price — sample input: 500000 currency units
- Down payment (full price for cash purchase) — sample input: 100000 currency units
- Annual mortgage interest rate — sample input: 4.5 %
- Loan amortization — sample input: 25 years
- Purchase closing costs — sample input: 10000 currency units
- Initial repairs — optional — sample input: 0 currency units
- Value after repairs — optional (blank uses purchase price) — sample input: 0 currency units
- Monthly rent for all units — sample input: 3200 currency units
- Annual rent increase — sample input: 2 %
- Other monthly income — optional — sample input: 0 currency units
- Annual other-income increase — sample input: 2 %
- Vacancy and credit-loss allowance — sample input: 5 %
- Management fee on collected income — sample input: 8 %
- Annual property tax — sample input: 4500 currency units
- Annual property-tax increase — sample input: 2 %
- Annual insurance — sample input: 1800 currency units
- Annual insurance increase — sample input: 2 %
- Annual HOA / condo / strata fees — optional — sample input: 0 currency units
- Annual association-fee increase — sample input: 2 %
- Annual maintenance — sample input: 2400 currency units
- Annual maintenance increase — sample input: 2 %
- Annual owner-paid utilities — optional — sample input: 0 currency units
- Annual utilities increase — sample input: 2 %
- Other annual operating costs — optional — sample input: 0 currency units
- Annual other-cost increase — sample input: 2 %
- Annual capital expenditure reserve — sample input: 1200 currency units
- Annual reserve increase — sample input: 2 %
- Holding period — sample input: 10 years
- Annual property appreciation — sample input: 2 %
- Expected sale price — optional (overrides appreciation) — sample input: 0 currency units
- Selling costs — sample input: 5 %
- Fixed sale costs — optional — sample input: 0 currency units
- Annual discount rate for NPV — sample input: 6 %
How to interpret the result
Review cash flow together with reserves, vacancy and financing risk. Compare a conservative case with an expected case and keep a record of the assumptions used.
Common mistake to avoid
Do not treat gross rent as net operating income. Local definitions, taxes, lending practices and measurement requirements can materially change the result.
Frequently asked questions
What expenses should be included?
Include vacancy, taxes, insurance, maintenance, management, utilities paid by the owner, association costs, reserves and debt service where applicable.
Is positive cash flow the same as a good investment?
No. Also consider condition, location, tenant risk, financing, capital requirements and resale assumptions.
Calculation details
NOI = collected income − operating expenses. Cash flow = NOI − debt service − capital reserve. Initial cash = down payment + closing costs + repairs. Sale proceeds = sale price − sale costs − remaining loan. IRR and NPV use initial cash, annual cash flows and final net sale proceeds. Reserves are treated as spent; unused reserves are not added back. Rent and expense increases begin in year 2; appreciation begins in year 1.
Results included
- First-year monthly cash flow
- Initial cash invested
- Monthly mortgage payment
- Annual scheduled rent
- Annual other income
- Annual vacancy loss
- Annual effective income
- Annual operating expenses
- Annual management fee (included above)
- Annual NOI (before debt and capital reserves)
- Annual debt service
- Annual capital reserve
- Annual cash flow
- First-year cap rate
- First-year cash-on-cash return
- DSCR
- Total operating cash flow
- Sale price
- Sale costs
- Mortgage payoff at sale
- Net sale proceeds before tax
- Total profit before tax
- Total return on initial cash
- Annualized IRR
- Net present value
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Reviewed 2026-09-08.