Rental Property Cash Flow Calculator
Calculate monthly and annual cash flow from a rental property after all expenses.
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How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter your monthly rent and mortgage payment.
- 2
Add annual property tax and insurance costs.
- 3
Set maintenance reserve, vacancy rate, and property management fee as percentages of rent.
- 4
See your monthly and annual net cash flow after all expenses.
Frequently asked questions
What formula does this tool use?
This tool uses annual cash flow = effective rent − (mortgage × 12 + property tax + insurance + maintenance + management). Effective rent is gross annual rent (monthly rent × 12) less the vacancy percentage. Monthly cash flow is the annual figure divided by 12.
What is each percentage applied to?
Vacancy comes off gross annual rent. Maintenance is a percentage of gross annual rent, before vacancy. The management fee is a percentage of effective rent, after vacancy. Property tax and insurance are fixed annual amounts, and the mortgage is the monthly figure times 12.
Is mortgage principal treated as an expense?
Yes. The whole monthly payment you enter counts as cash out, so the result is cash left in your pocket. It does not credit the principal portion as equity building, which means it gives a lower figure than a total-return view would.
What should I enter for the mortgage payment?
Principal and interest only, as the label says. If your lender collects tax or insurance through the payment, leave those amounts out of the tax and insurance fields, or the same cost will be counted twice.
What costs are not included?
Owner-paid utilities, HOA or service charges, advertising and tenant placement, turnover and capital replacements beyond the maintenance percentage, income tax, depreciation and closing costs are not part of the formula. Rent is also assumed flat; there is no growth over time.
What does a zero entry do?
Blank fields use the form defaults, but an explicit 0 is respected. A paid-off property with a mortgage of 0, or a self-managed one with a 0% fee, is calculated correctly: at default rent, with no mortgage and no vacancy, monthly cash flow becomes $1,200.00. Negative entries are treated as zero.
How is the status line decided?
It reads Positive cash flow when annual net cash flow is zero or higher and Negative cash flow otherwise. It is a sign check only and says nothing about how large or reliable the margin is.
Does the vacancy rate account for turnover costs?
It models only lost rent. Painting, cleaning, repairs between tenants or agent fees for finding one are separate costs that would need to be covered by the maintenance percentage or another input.
Rental cash flow: what stays after six deductions
The order of the deductions
The calculation begins with twelve months of rent, takes away the vacancy share to get effective rent, and then subtracts five costs: the mortgage, property tax, insurance, a maintenance allowance and a management fee. The bases differ. Maintenance is taken from gross rent, so it does not shrink when the property sits empty, while the management fee is taken from effective rent. On the defaults ($2,000 rent, $1,200 mortgage, 8% vacancy, 10% maintenance, 10% management), gross rent is $24,000, effective rent $22,080 and annual expenses $23,808.
Worked example: the default case and a weaker rent
The default inputs produce annual net cash flow of −$1,728, or −$144.00 a month, and the tool reports negative cash flow. Dropping the rent to $1,500 and raising the mortgage to $1,300 deepens the position: effective rent is $16,560, expenses are $23,856, annual cash flow is −$7,296 and monthly cash flow is −$608.00. Mortgage, tax and insurance do not shrink with rent, so most of the lost rent falls straight through to cash flow.
Worked example: a stronger rent and a paid-off property
Rent of $2,500 with the other defaults but only 4% vacancy gives gross rent of $30,000, effective rent of $28,800 and expenses of $25,080, so cash flow is $3,720 a year, or $310.00 a month. Removing the mortgage and vacancy from the default case changes the picture even more: expenses fall to $9,600 and the tool shows $14,400 a year, or $1,200.00 a month. The gap between the mortgage-free and mortgaged cases shows how much of the default shortfall is financing.
| Scenario | Effective rent | Annual expenses | Annual cash flow | Monthly cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defaults: $2,000 rent, $1,200 mortgage, 8% vacancy | $22,080 | $23,808 | -$1,728 | -$144.00 |
| $1,500 rent, $1,300 mortgage | $16,560 | $23,856 | -$7,296 | -$608.00 |
| $2,500 rent, 4% vacancy | $28,800 | $25,080 | $3,720 | $310.00 |
| Defaults, no mortgage, no vacancy | $24,000 | $9,600 | $14,400 | $1,200.00 |
Choosing the percentages
The three percentage fields are assumptions you supply, and the defaults are only starting points built into the form. Vacancy, maintenance and management fees all depend on the property, the tenant mix and who manages it, so use figures from your own records or quotes. Try the result at a higher vacancy and a higher maintenance level to see whether the cash flow stays positive.
What the number is and is not
The result is an annual estimate of cash after the costs listed, with rent and costs held constant. It is not a forecast of what the property will return, and it leaves out income tax, depreciation, utilities, capital replacements and the equity you build by repaying the loan. Use it to compare setups or to test whether a deal covers its costs on paper.
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Results are estimates for informational purposes only and do not constitute professional financial, medical, legal, or technical advice. Read full disclaimer →