Rental Property ROI Calculator
The total return on cash, blending cash flow, paydown and appreciation for a rental property. Live calculator with worked steps and charts.
Calculator
The price you pay, before closing costs.
Investment loans typically require 20–30% down.
Gross scheduled rent before vacancy.
Share of scheduled rent lost to turnover and non-payment.
Share of effective income budgeted for repairs.
Share of collected rent charged by the manager.
Commission plus closing costs, as a share of sale price.
The annual return you require to tie up cash.
Advanced options (9)
Laundry, parking, storage, late fees, pet rent.
The non-depreciable land keeps the rest.
This rental property calculator runs on a full rental pro-forma: rent is annualised and reduced by vacancy, every operating expense is itemised to reach NOI, and the loan amortises monthly at the rate entered. Results update live as you type.
Amortization schedule
| Year | Interest | Principal | Ending Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,677.60 | $2,285.57 | $222,714.43 |
| 2 | $15,512.37 | $2,450.80 | $220,263.63 |
| 3 | $15,335.20 | $2,627.96 | $217,635.67 |
| 4 | $15,145.23 | $2,817.94 | $214,817.73 |
| 5 | $14,941.52 | $3,021.65 | $211,796.08 |
| 6 | $14,723.08 | $3,240.08 | $208,555.99 |
| 7 | $14,488.86 | $3,474.31 | $205,081.68 |
| 8 | $14,237.70 | $3,725.47 | $201,356.21 |
| 9 | $13,968.38 | $3,994.78 | $197,361.43 |
| 10 | $13,679.60 | $4,283.57 | $193,077.86 |
| 11 | $13,369.94 | $4,593.23 | $188,484.64 |
| 12 | $13,037.90 | $4,925.27 | $183,559.37 |
| 13 | $12,681.85 | $5,281.32 | $178,278.05 |
| 14 | $12,300.06 | $5,663.11 | $172,614.94 |
| 15 | $11,890.68 | $6,072.49 | $166,542.45 |
| 16 | $11,451.69 | $6,511.47 | $160,030.98 |
| 17 | $10,980.98 | $6,982.19 | $153,048.79 |
| 18 | $10,476.24 | $7,486.93 | $145,561.86 |
| 19 | $9,935.01 | $8,028.16 | $137,533.69 |
| 20 | $9,354.65 | $8,608.52 | $128,925.18 |
| 21 | $8,732.34 | $9,230.83 | $119,694.35 |
| 22 | $8,065.04 | $9,898.13 | $109,796.22 |
| 23 | $7,349.50 | $10,613.66 | $99,182.56 |
| 24 | $6,582.24 | $11,380.93 | $87,801.63 |
| 25 | $5,759.51 | $12,203.65 | $75,597.98 |
| 26 | $4,877.31 | $13,085.86 | $62,512.12 |
| 27 | $3,931.33 | $14,031.83 | $48,480.29 |
| 28 | $2,916.97 | $15,046.20 | $33,434.09 |
| 29 | $1,829.28 | $16,133.89 | $17,300.21 |
| 30 | $662.96 | $17,300.21 | $0.00 |
Results
Total ROI (Cash Flow + Appreciation)
182.53%
Over the 10-year hold, including sale costs.
10.94%
7.36%
1000.00%
2.83x
$162,451
$78,984
$65,544
$89,000
26.0 years
Live results update as you type — currently showing total roi (cash flow + appreciation) of 182.53%. Replace the defaults with your own rent roll, tax bill and insurance quote for an exact comparison.
Visualizations
Where the Profit Comes From
Total Profit Split
Property Value Over the Hold
Annualised Return
Formula
Total return on cash blends the three ways a rental pays you: the cash flow collected across the hold, the loan balance the tenants paid down, and the appreciation net of selling costs — all divided by the cash you invested.
Alternative Form
Variables
| Symbol | Name | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| CF | Cash flow | $ | Cumulative cash flow over the hold |
| PD | Paydown | $ | Loan balance reduction over the hold |
| AP | Appreciation | $ | Value growth net of selling costs |
| Cash in | Cash invested | $ | Down payment, costs and rehab |
Explanation
Total ROI is the honest single number for a hold: unlike cash-on-cash it counts paydown and appreciation, and unlike IRR it is easy to verify by hand from the three sources.
Step-by-Step Calculation
Follow each step to understand how the result is calculated from your inputs.
Size the loan from the purchase price and the down payment.
Amortise the loan to find the monthly payment and annual debt service.
Annualise the rent and deduct vacancy and credit loss.
Subtract every operating expense to reach net operating income.
Compute return on investment from the figures above.
Worked Examples
See how the calculator works with different scenarios.
Scenario
The rental property roi calculator run on the values above, showing the full calculation path rather than only the answer.
Inputs
Calculation
1. Size the loan from the purchase price and the down payment. → $225,000 loan, $75,000 down 2. Amortise the loan to find the monthly payment and annual debt service. → $1,496.93/month ($17,963/year) 3. Annualise the rent and deduct vacancy and credit loss. → $29,640 effective gross income 4. Subtract every operating expense to reach net operating income. → $21,387 NOI 5. Compute return on investment from the figures above. → 182.53% total, 10.94% annualised
Result
Total ROI (Cash Flow + Appreciation): 182.53%
Interpretation
On $89,000 invested: $65,544 of cash flow and $185,907 of sale equity, a 2.83x multiple and 10.94% annualised (1000.00% IRR).
Understanding Your Result
Your Result: Total ROI (Cash Flow + Appreciation): 182.53%
Typical range: A levered rental often returns 50–120% of invested cash over a decade (10.94% annualised here); a broad equity index has averaged roughly 10% annualised over long periods for comparison.
What This Means
Total ROI is the honest single number for a hold: unlike cash-on-cash it counts paydown and appreciation, and unlike IRR it is easy to verify by hand from the three sources.
Why It Matters
On $89,000 invested: $65,544 of cash flow and $185,907 of sale equity, a 2.83x multiple and 10.94% annualised (1000.00% IRR).
Professional Interpretation
On $89,000 invested: $65,544 of cash flow and $185,907 of sale equity, a 2.83x multiple and 10.94% annualised (1000.00% IRR).
How this is calculated
Total return on cash blends the three ways a rental pays you: the cash flow collected across the hold, the loan balance the tenants paid down, and the appreciation net of selling costs — all divided by the cash you invested.
What drives the result
Time value of money: cash received in later years is worth less than cash today, so discounted metrics (IRR, NPV, discounted payback) re-express the whole stream at today’s value. Simple metrics (cap rate, cash-on-cash, equity multiple) ignore timing but are faster to compute and communicate.
Recommendations
- •ROI depends on the exit: run the sale in year 5 and year 15 to see when the returns peak.
- •Appreciation is the bigger driver on levered property — and the less certain one. Weight income metrics at least as heavily.
Educational Content
Introduction
Return metrics compress a whole investment into one comparable number. Each answers a different question: cash-on-cash prices the first year, IRR prices the whole hold including the sale, equity multiple counts total distributions, and NPV tests the deal against your own hurdle rate.
Concept Explanation
Time value of money: cash received in later years is worth less than cash today, so discounted metrics (IRR, NPV, discounted payback) re-express the whole stream at today’s value. Simple metrics (cap rate, cash-on-cash, equity multiple) ignore timing but are faster to compute and communicate.
Applications
Benefits
- •Makes a multi-year, multi-cash-flow investment comparable with anything else you could buy
- •IRR and NPV capture the size and the timing of returns, not just their total
- •Equity multiple gives a quick, intuitive total-cash view for partners
Limitations
- •IRR assumes interim cash flows reinvest at the IRR itself, which overstates long holds; check the equity multiple alongside it
- •Exit assumptions — growth rate and selling costs — drive more of the answer than most operating inputs
- •None of the metrics price risk: a stable single-family rental and a speculative development can share an IRR
Best Practices
- •Pick a discount rate you actually require — 8–12% is common for leveraged rentals — and let NPV veto deals below it
- •Run the return at three exit scenarios: flat, +3% and −5% growth; the spread is the risk
- •Report cash-on-cash for year one, IRR for the hold, and equity multiple for the total picture
Common Misconceptions
Practical Tips
- •Split the ROI into its three sources — a deal that only pays through appreciation is a bet on the market, not on the property
- •Annualise it before comparing with a bond, a fund or a flip: a 60% total ROI over ten years is under 5% a year
Common Mistakes
Assumptions
This calculator makes the following assumptions to provide estimates:
Limitations
Be aware of these limitations when using this calculator:
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions about this calculator.
What is a good total ROI on a rental?
Who uses the rental property roi calculator?
How accurate is the rental property roi calculator?
Do I need to sign up or pay to use this calculator?
Can I use these numbers in a formal valuation or loan application?
How do I choose realistic inputs?
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Related Guides
Deepen your understanding with these educational resources.
How the pro-forma layers build from rent to cash flow, and where deals usually hide problems.
Which metric answers which question, and why none of them should be read alone.
Down payments, rate premiums and how lenders size income-property loans.
Glossary
Technical terms used in mortgage calculations explained in plain language.
- Cash-on-Cash Return
- Annual cash flow divided by the cash you invested — the first-year return on your down payment.
- Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
- The discount rate at which a project’s net present value is zero — the annualised, timing-aware return of the whole hold.
- Equity Multiple
- Total cash distributed to the investor (cash flow plus sale proceeds) divided by cash invested. 2.0x doubles your money with no timing context.
- Capitalisation Rate
- NOI divided by price or value — the unlevered yield the income stream offers at today’s price.
Authoritative References
Trusted sources and standards referenced by this calculator.
Applicable Standards
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Page Information
2026-09-21
2.0.0
Free to use for educational and professional purposes.