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Cash Flow Calculator

Understanding the financial metrics of a rental property is essential for any landlord. Our Rental Property Cash Flow Calculator helps estimate monthly income, expenses, and overall profitability of a property giving you a clear picture of the potential cash flow before you commit to renting.

How Does a Cash Flow Calculator Help?

Managing a profitable rental property involves more than just collecting rent. Expenses like maintenance, property taxes, insurance, and vacancy periods ultimately impact the bottom line and will determine if renting your home will be profitable. This tool allows you to:

  • Determine Net Cash Flow – See if your property is generating positive or negative cash flow after all expenses.
  • Plan for Expenses – Account for property management fees, repairs, and unexpected costs.
  • Compare Investment Scenarios – Adjust variables like rent price, loan terms, and expenses to evaluate different financial outcomes.
  • Make Data-Driven Decisions – Avoid costly surprises by forecasting potential earnings before listing your property for rent.
Cash Flow Calculator
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Enter the total monthly rental income.
Enter the monthly mortgage payment.
Enter the monthly property tax amount.
Enter the monthly insurance cost.
Enter the monthly HOA fees, if applicable.
Enter the estimated monthly maintenance costs.
Fees vary by company and may be negotiable.
Enter the percentage of time the property is expected to be vacant. One month = 8.34
This field calculates the total monthly cash flow.
This field calculates the total annual cash flow.

How Can I Use This To Help Me?

A good rule of thumb for rental property cash flow depends on factors like location, financing, and your own personal risk tolerance, but there are a few general guidelines landlords use to assess whether a property is a solid investment:

1% Rule

This may be the most common and you may have heard of it before. A property should generate at least 1% of its purchase price in monthly rent to be considered a candidate as a strong cash-flowing investment property. For example, a $250,000 property should ideally rent for $2,500 per month. This rule provides a quick way to filter potential rental properties but doesn’t account for expenses and in the competitive market in Metro Atlanta and Alpharetta, it’s sometimes difficult to acquire new properties that meet the 1% rule.

Cash-on-Cash Return (CoC)

A strong rental property typically has a cash-on-cash return of 8-12% or more annually. This metric compares your annual cash flow to the actual cash you’ve invested (down payment, closing costs, initial repairs, updated, rental prep, and maintenance).

Monthly Cash Flow Target

While goals do vary, many landlords look for at least $200 – $400 per door in positive cash flow after all expenses (mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and property management). Higher cash flow may be necessary in markets with higher costs or economic volatility. If this is something you would like to look at further, we can help with advice on this topic.

50% Rule for Expenses

A quick way to estimate expenses is to assume that half of the gross rental income will go toward operating expenses (not including mortgage payments). If a property rents for $2,000 per month, expect $1,000 to cover taxes, insurance, maintenance, vacancies, and management costs and fees.

Break-Even vs. Positive Cash Flow

This is a consideration that requires more research than you can do with this calculator but worth thinking about nonetheless. Some investors are willing to accept break-even cash flow in high appreciation markets where property values are rising. You’ll need some up to date and long term market research to be able to make any sort of reasonable decisions. Again, a good real estate advisor should be able to not only pull this data but help interpret it for you as it relates to your specific property. We can certainly do this for you. Keep in mind that strong long-term rentals typically generate positive cash flow from day one to hedge against market downturns or unexpected costs and most of the time, you should stay away from any property that does not generate some positive cash flow.