Rental Property Analyzer

Every other calculator on this site gives you one number. Cap rate. Cash-on-cash. DSCR. Each one answers a single question, and each one lies to you a little, because a deal is never one number. A property can show a 7% cap rate and still lose money every month once you add the loan. It can cash flow $300/mo and still be unfundable because the DSCR is 0.94. The individual metrics are useful. They are not sufficient.

This is the calculator that forces you to see the full picture. Enter a deal once (price, financing, rent, expenses) and read every KPI side by side: NOI, cap rate, cash flow, cash-on-cash, DSCR, total ROI including equity and appreciation, and a plain-English verdict that tells you whether this deal is strong, borderline, or weak. If the numbers say no, you will know before the earnest money clears.

Why one number is never enough

A duplex in Cleveland shows a 9% cap rate. In isolation, that looks outstanding. But plug it into the analyzer and you see the full story: the taxes are $6,200/year, insurance runs $2,400, and at 7.5% interest the DSCR is 1.04. That cap rate was telling you the property yields well before debt. The DSCR is telling you the debt nearly eats the yield. Without both numbers, you only have half the picture.

The same thing works in reverse. A condo in Nashville shows a modest 5.1% cap rate. Unimpressive. But the HOA covers exterior maintenance and insurance, the tax assessment is low, and with 25% down your cash-on-cash is 9.4% and the DSCR is 1.31. The deal the cap rate dismissed is actually well-structured once you see the leverage layer.

Run any deal through a single metric and you will find a reason to say yes or a reason to say no. Run it through all of them and you will find the truth.

The seller's proforma vs. your analysis

Every listing with a "proforma" attached is a work of fiction. Not because the seller is lying (though some are) but because the seller is showing you the best-case version of the property. Highest possible rent. Lowest reasonable vacancy. No management fee. Maintenance at 3%. The numbers are technically defensible and practically useless.

Your job is to build your own assumptions. Here is where to start:

• Rent.Do not use the listing agent's number. Pull comps from Rentometer, Zillow rental estimates, or, better yet, call a local property manager who actually leases units in that neighborhood. A property manager in Indianapolis will tell you what a 3-bed ranch in Fountain Square actually rents for, not what one rented for 18 months ago in the best unit on the best block. Use the median of three to five comps. If the property needs work, use the as-is rent, not the after-renovation rent.
• Vacancy. Default to 5% for strong rental markets with low turnover (think Phoenix suburbs, Raleigh, or Tampa). Push to 8% or 10% in markets with longer lease-up times, seasonal demand (college towns), or higher turnover (lower-income areas in any city). If you have never owned rental property, use 8%. You will be glad you did.
• CapEx reserve. Budget 5% to 10% of gross rent. A newer build (post-2005) in good condition can justify 5%. An older duplex in Kansas City or Memphis with a 20-year-old roof and original mechanicals needs 8% to 10%. The roof, HVAC, water heater, and flooring will all need replacing eventually, and pretending they will not does not make them last longer.
• Management. 8% to 10% of gross rent. Always include it, even if you plan to self-manage. The reasons are simple: you will not self-manage forever, a buyer will underwrite management when you sell, and a deal that only works with your free labor is a job, not an investment.
• Insurance and taxes.Get actual quotes. Do not use last year's tax bill if the property will be reassessed after the sale. In states like Texas, Georgia, or Florida, the post-sale reassessment can increase your tax bill by 30% to 50%. Insurance in coastal Florida or Louisiana can be double what you expect. Call an agent and get a real number.

The seller's proforma exists to sell you the property. Your analysis exists to tell you whether you should buy it. They should never use the same assumptions.

The five KPIs and what they actually tell you

Each metric in the analyzer answers a different question. Together, they form a complete diagnostic. Here is what each one measures and where it breaks down when used alone.

Net operating income (NOI)

Gross rental income minus vacancy and operating expenses, before any mortgage payment. NOI tells you what the property earns on its own, stripped of financing. A negative NOI means the property cannot cover its own costs even without a loan. That is not a deal. That is a liability.

Cap rate

NOI divided by purchase price. It strips out leverage entirely, which makes it the most direct way to compare two properties on the same scale. A $180,000 triplex in Birmingham and a $1.2M fourplex in Austin can be compared side by side on cap rate alone. The limitation: cap rate tells you nothing about whether the leverage works. A 7% cap property with an 8% loan is going backwards.

Cash flow

What actually lands in your account each month after every expense and the mortgage payment. This is the number that pays for the next deal, covers the unexpected $4,000 HVAC replacement, and keeps you solvent when a tenant leaves mid-winter in Columbus and it takes six weeks to re-lease. A property that shows zero or negative cash flow requires you to feed it from your W-2 every single month. Knowingly.

Cash-on-cash return

Annual cash flow divided by the total cash invested: down payment, closing costs, and any rehab. It answers the leverage question: is the money you put in working hard enough? A deal can show a respectable 6.5% cap rate and still produce a 3% cash-on-cash if the financing terms are expensive. In a world where a high-yield savings account pays 4.5%, that 3% cash-on-cash means you took on tenants, toilets, and risk to earn less than a savings account.

DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio)

NOI divided by the annual debt payment. Above 1.0, the property covers its own loan. Below 1.0, it does not. Most DSCR lenders require at least 1.20 for their best pricing. If every other metric looks strong but the DSCR is below 1.0, the deal is not financeable on standard terms, and the lender will not care about your cap rate or your appreciation thesis.

A worked example: duplex in the Midwest

A listed duplex in a market like Indianapolis or Kansas City. Asking price: $285,000. Each unit rents for $1,200/mo, so gross monthly rent is $2,400. Here are the realistic inputs:

Effective gross income: $2,232/mo. Operating expenses (taxes, insurance, maintenance, CapEx, management): $916/mo. NOI: $1,316/mo, or $15,792/year. Loan payment on $213,750 at 7.25% over 30 years: approximately $1,458/mo.

This deal does not work. Not because the property is bad, but because at 7.25% and 25% down, the financing eats the yield. The cap rate looks fine at 5.5%, decent for a stable Midwest duplex. But the DSCR is 0.90 and cash flow is negative. The property cannot pay its own loan.

Now change one input: negotiate the price to $255,000. The cap rate jumps to 6.2%, the DSCR climbs to 1.02, and cash flow is roughly breakeven. Still tight. Drop the rate to 6.75% (shop three lenders, since pricing varies more than you think) and the DSCR hits 1.10, cash flow goes positive. That is how sensitive these deals are. $30,000 and half a point separate a money-loser from a deal worth closing.

Analysis paralysis vs. skipping due diligence

There are two ways to lose money in real estate. The first is obvious: buying a bad deal because you did not run the numbers. The second is less obvious but just as expensive: never buying anything because you keep running the numbers.

Analysis paralysis is real and it kills more would-be investors than bad deals do. You model a property in Memphis. Cash flow is $180/unit. DSCR is 1.22. But what if rents drop? What if rates rise? What if the tenant stops paying? You run another scenario. And another. Each one introduces a new fear. Eventually the deal expires and you start over with a new listing and the same cycle.

Here is the line: run your base case with honest inputs. Run three stress tests (rent down 5%, vacancy up to 8%, rate up half a point). If the deal survives all three, it is resilient enough to buy. You do not need a fourth stress test. You do not need to model a recession. You need to make a decision.

The flip side: skipping due diligence because you "just know it's a good deal" or because the market is hot and you need to move fast. Every investor who overpaid in Boise in 2022 or Phoenix in 2021 had the same feeling. The numbers exist so you do not have to rely on feelings. Enter the deal. Read the verdict. If it says weak, it is weak. Your enthusiasm does not change the math.

Benchmarks: what good looks like in 2025

These ranges reflect U.S. residential and small multifamily investment property. They are guidelines, not rules. A deal in a high-growth metro like Raleigh or Nashville may justify numbers at the low end. A deal in a cash-flow market like Cleveland or Birmingham should hit the top end or something is off.

A deal does not need to clear every benchmark to be worth buying. A property in San Antonio with $90/unit cash flow, a 5.8% cap, and a 1.28 DSCR is fine. The slightly thin cash flow is compensated by a strong DSCR and a growing market. But a property that misses three out of five benchmarks needs a significant change in price, financing, or rent to work. Do not talk yourself into it.

Red flags the numbers reveal

Certain patterns in the KPIs tell you something is wrong, even when any single number looks acceptable on its own.

• The deal only works at best case.If the verdict flips from "strong" to "weak" when you drop rent by 5% or add half a point to the rate, there is no margin of safety. Every assumption has to land perfectly. In real estate, they never all do. This is how investors end up subsidizing properties from their day job.
• Operating expenses below 35% of gross rent. On a single-family rental, total operating costs below 35% are suspicious. Someone left out management, underestimated CapEx, or used a two-year-old tax bill. Real properties break and real investors eventually hire help. If the listing shows 28% expenses, add back what is missing before you trust any KPI.
• Cap rate that looks too good. A 9% cap in a stable metro like Charlotte or Columbus usually means the property is in a rougher area, has deferred maintenance the photos do not show, or the seller inflated the rent roll. High cap rates compensate for high risk. Dig into why it is cheap before you celebrate the yield.
• Positive cash flow but DSCR below 1.0. These should not coexist with consistent inputs. If they do, check whether you excluded expenses from NOI that belong there, or whether your vacancy assumptions are inconsistent between the cash flow and NOI calculations. The analyzer catches this, but double-check your inputs.
• Strong verdict, one clearly weak KPI. The verdict weighs all KPIs together. A high cash-on-cash return can mask a thin DSCR that will cause real problems when you try to refinance. Always read the individual numbers. The verdict is a summary, not a substitute.

Where to get each input

Input quality matters more than calculator sophistication. The most advanced analysis tool in the world is useless if you feed it the listing agent's fantasy numbers. Here is where to get real data for each input:

If you are analyzing a deal and you do not have real numbers for at least rent, taxes, and insurance, you are not analyzing a deal. You are daydreaming with a calculator.

When the numbers say no

This is the hardest part of deal analysis and nobody talks about it enough. You found the property. You drove by it. You pictured the tenants. You told your spouse. And then you enter the numbers and the verdict says weak.

Trust the math. Your enthusiasm for a property does not change the cash flow. The neighborhood charm does not improve the DSCR. "It just feels like a good deal" is not a financial thesis. It is a cognitive bias with a mortgage attached.

A weak deal can become a strong one with the right changes: negotiate the price down, find better financing, wait for rates to move, or walk away and find the next one. The deal flow is the skill. Any single deal is replaceable. A bad one you close on is not.

Stress testing: find the breaking point

Every deal has a breaking point. Your goal is to find it in the calculator, not in your bank account six months after closing. Adjust the inputs above and run these three scenarios:

1. Drop rent by 5%. Markets soften. Tenants negotiate. Sometimes you lower rent to keep a good tenant rather than eat a two-month vacancy and $2,000 in turnover costs. If a 5% rent drop kills the cash flow on a deal in Jacksonville or San Antonio, the deal has no cushion.
2. Push vacancy to 8%. The default 5% assumes about 2.5 weeks of downtime per year. Push it to 8%, roughly a month, and see what happens. In markets with longer lease-up times or seasonal demand cycles, 8% is not conservative. It is realistic.
3. Add half a point to the rate. If you are still rate shopping or considering an adjustable-rate product, this is non-negotiable. A half-point increase on a $250,000 loan moves the payment about $90/mo. On a deal with $150/mo in cash flow, that is the difference between a performing asset and a monthly bill.

If the deal survives all three and the verdict still reads positive, it can handle the normal surprises of being a landlord. If any single test turns the verdict negative, you are betting on a best-case scenario to stay solvent. Best-case scenarios make lousy investment strategies.

Going deeper: individual calculators

The analyzer gives you the full picture in one pass. But sometimes you want to go deeper on a specific metric, to understand how a single variable moves the number, or to compare a deal against more granular benchmarks.

• DSCR Calculator: see exactly how the ratio changes with rate, down payment, and rent. Useful when you are trying to push a borderline DSCR past a lender's threshold.
• Cap Rate Calculator: compare unleveraged yields across properties, markets, and property types without the noise of financing terms.
• Cash Flow Calculator: model monthly cash flow with detailed expense inputs. Particularly useful for multifamily where you want to see per-unit economics.
• Cash-on-Cash Calculator: isolate the return on your invested capital. Helpful when deciding between putting 20% down versus 25% down and seeing how leverage affects the return.

Start with the analyzer to get the verdict. Use the individual calculators to understand why.