Rental Deal Analyzer: Cash Flow, Returns and Exit
Measure the nominal, pre-tax cash flow of a rental against your cash in, with an assumed sale, the costs you enter and loan terms that stay fixed.
What This Calculator Does
This cash-on-cash return calculator weighs a rental's nominal, pre-tax operating cash flow against your starting cash, with the sale as an assumed scenario. Spent startup costs and untouched reserves are separate inputs. Operating inputs stay fixed; P&I ends at payoff. Results aren't an approval, a full accounting profit or a household cash plan.
Who Is This For
It's built for Florida rental investors and for agents who want to try their own what-ifs: buying all cash, a property that never rents, a drop in value. Plug in actual quotes, or label each assumption, instead of borrowing a generic sales fee, an average insurance premium or a lender's rule-of-thumb figure.
How It Works
Begin with the purchase price and the down payment, as a percentage or a dollar figure. Then enter the rent for the entire property, your monthly costs, a yearly repair budget and a vacancy rate. Cash closing costs and any other startup cash go in net of credits; if there are none, enter 0. After that, give your holding period, the yearly change in value (+ or −) and the cost of selling. Financing calls for a rate and a term; with an all-cash purchase you leave both out. Units and square footage are optional. The results line up cash flow, returns, payback and the net from a sale, and that net can come out + or −.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which money counts as upfront cash?
This counts only cash that really goes into the property. Start from the down payment, then add what you pay in cash when you close and any startup money you actually spend, and take off every credit. Reserves you keep on the side are not part of it, and neither is a refundable escrow deposit. Prepaid and recurring costs are counted elsewhere, so leave them out here. Money spent on the place does not automatically raise its resale value. The figure shows cash in the property, not your household's total savings. Later capital calls are outside the model, as are deposits into reserves and withdrawals from them.
Do the operating inputs change over time, and can vacancy reach 100%?
No, and yes. Whatever you enter for rent, running costs, repairs per year and vacancy holds for as long as you own. Rent is the scheduled total for the entire property, not per unit. For stress tests, vacancy goes anywhere in 0–100% and the annual value change anywhere in −100% to 100%; neither range is an official market limit. The math skips income tax, depreciation and mortgage insurance, and no live feed supplies your assumptions.
How does the calculator handle all-cash deals, percent down, units and square footage?
When your down payment matches the full price, you need no rate or term, and no DSCR is shown. Loan payments, if there are any, stop at payoff. Choose a percent down and it gets converted to dollars one time, rounded to the cent. The units field accepts an optional whole number; 2.0 counts as 2, not 20. Area stays as typed, like 1200.5 sq ft, and accepts up to two decimals but no symbols or commas. A blank or a 0 is read as unknown, never as zero size. Units and area never multiply the rent, and area isn't converted to square meters.
What separates IRR, average annual growth and the loss figures?
IRR follows the timing of your money; average annual growth ignores it. IRR assumes each annual cash flow arrives at year-end, with the sale falling in the final year. The solver searches rates from −99% to 1000%. When no single rate fits, IRR displays "not available" rather than a forced number. Average annual growth looks only at the starting value and the ending one, so cash timing and reinvestment play no part. If the ending value isn't positive, it shows −100% as a loss marker. That figure is not a real growth rate, and it sets no ceiling on your loss in dollars. Negative numbers always show their minus.
What does the figure "months until cash flow returns your cash" tell you?
It's the number of months the rental's cash flow needs to add up to the cash you put in, with every assumption held steady. Loan payments drop off at payoff. The sale is left out. If payback lands after your holding period, read it as a projection, not a plan. Some results show as words instead: never, or no upfront cash. A deal that loses money in its first year can still pay back once the loan is gone. The simple payback figure is cruder: it takes the first year's monthly result and repeats it indefinitely, which makes it a yardstick rather than a forecast. Neither payback figure counts the sale.
Do the benchmarks or the sale result prove a loan approval or a profit?
DSCR bands at 1.25/1.00 and GRM bands at 10/15/20 are rules of thumb, not a universal standard or a grade. NOI excludes the loan payment, and GRM is based on rent before any vacancy. Enter zero rent and the tool can't work out GRM or break-even occupancy. The equity figure ignores selling costs. Sale cash subtracts them, along with the scheduled loan balance; that sale-cash figure is not an actual payoff or tax settlement. Anything above $10 trillion is beyond what the display shows; that cap is the calculator's limit, not a forecast or a lending limit. Check quotes separately.