Rental Property Cash Flow Calculator
Standard investor analysis for any rental property. Monthly cash flow, cap rate, cash-on-cash return, DSCR, and break-even rent, all sized off your own numbers. Lender-grade NOI definition (gross rent less vacancy and operating expenses, before debt service).
Monthly cash flow
-$1,110.12 per month
Property is bleeding $1,110.12 per month. Worth understanding whether that's a rent gap, an expense gap, or financing structure.
Cap rate
3.95%
NOI / purchase price
Cash-on-cash
-9.19%
On $145,000 invested
DSCR
0.66
Below 1.0 — property doesn't cover its own debt
Break-even rent
$4,369
Monthly gross rent floor
Annual breakdown
| Gross rent | $38,400 |
| Less vacancy (5%) | ($1,920) |
| Effective gross income | $36,480 |
| Less operating expenses | ($10,800) |
| Net operating income (NOI) | $25,680 |
| Less annual debt service | ($39,001) |
| Annual cash flow | -$13,321 |
Financing snapshot
$3,250.12 / month
Mortgage of $520,000 at 5.75% over 25 years. At this DSCR most lenders will push back. Solutions: larger down, lower rate, longer amort, or a higher-rent comparable in the area.
Reading the numbers
- Cap rate is the property's yield divorced from financing. Useful for comparing buildings against each other regardless of how they're financed.
- Cash-on-cash return is the actual return on the cash you put in. Year one only, before appreciation or principal paydown. Most investors only look at this and miss the bigger story.
- DSCR is what the lender cares about. NOI divided by annual debt service. Below 1.0 means the property doesn't cover its own mortgage from operations. Lenders typically want 1.10 to 1.20+ before they'll approve.
- Break-even rent is the floor. Tenant turnover that drops you below it means writing cheques out of pocket every month.
Every metric matters, but in different ways for different files. That's the strategy call.
Book a Strategy CallStrategies that build on this calculator
The cash-flow numbers above feed into a few decisions on this site.
- Rental Cash Damming. Once a rental cash-flows, the next question is whether to route the income through cash damming and convert non-deductible personal mortgage interest into deductible rental-expense interest.
- Rental Amortization Extension. If the personal mortgage matters more than the rental amortization, stretching the rental can free monthly cash flow that gets aimed at the personal side.
- RESP vs Rental. For families weighing a small rental as an education-funding vehicle, this calc is the rental side of the comparison.