Rental ROI calculator
NOI, cap rate, cash flow after debt, cash-on-cash — the four numbers that decide a deal, with honest defaults.
NOI / year
$16,924.00
before debt service
Cap rate
6.77%
NOI ÷ purchase price
Cash flow / year
$1,955.00
after P&I $1,247.00/mo
Cash-on-cash
2.85%
on $68,500.00 invested
How to read the four numbers
NOI is the property's truth: effective income (rent minus vacancy) minus operating expenses, before any loan. It's the number an appraiser or a lender starts from, and it's the number sellers most often inflate — usually by omitting vacancy, maintenance, or management.
Cap rate turns NOI into a price check: a $250,000 property producing $18,000 NOI is a 7.2% cap. Flip it around and NOI ÷ local cap rate tells you what the income says the building is worth, independent of the asking price.
Cash flow after debt and cash-on-cash bring YOUR financing in. The same property at 25% down and 7% interest can be a positive or negative carry depending on nothing but the rate — which is why serious buyers underwrite the property (cap rate) and the deal (cash-on-cash) separately, and why this calculator shows both.
One habit worth stealing: once you own the property, keep scoring it. Your real collected rent and real expenses produce a real NOI — and a real cap rate on today's value. That's exactly what LetsGoLandlord's Reports page computes from your books, automatically.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between cap rate and cash-on-cash?
Cap rate ignores your loan: NOI ÷ purchase price — it measures the property. Cash-on-cash includes financing: annual cash flow after debt service ÷ actual cash invested — it measures YOUR deal. A great property with expensive debt can be a bad deal, and vice versa.
What's a good cap rate?
Market-dependent — pricier, lower-risk markets trade at 4–6%; workforce housing in secondary markets often 7–10%. Compare against local sales, not a universal number. The trap is comparing YOUR realistic NOI to a seller's fantasy NOI.
Why include vacancy and maintenance if the property is occupied?
Because the year has 12 months and roofs don't care about your optimism. Underwriting at 5% vacancy and ~8% maintenance means a turnover or a water heater doesn't turn a 'cash-flowing' property negative. If it only works at 0% vacancy, it doesn't work.
Does this calculator include appreciation or tax benefits?
Deliberately not. Appreciation is a market opinion and depreciation depends on your tax situation — both are real but neither should be load-bearing in a buy decision. Underwrite the cash; let upside be upside.
Underwrite your OWN portfolio monthly
Reports compute real NOI and implied value at 8/10/12% caps from your actual books. Free for 14 days.