Rental Cash Flow Calculator: Monthly Profit & Cash-on-Cash
Run a rental deal in 60 seconds, including vacancy, maintenance, and management
By the Monthly Income Booster editorial team · Updated · How we research and fact-check
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Rental Cash Flow Calculator: Monthly Profit & Cash-on-Cash
Printed 2026-10-27 from billorganizingapp.com/income/calculators/rental-cash-flow/ — an estimate for planning, not financial or tax advice.
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Rent minus mortgage is not cash flow. The deals that hurt people are the ones that ignore vacancy, repairs, and capital expenses until the first furnace dies. This calculator forces those numbers into the math.
The Reserves Everyone Forgets
Budget 5–8% of rent for vacancy, 8–10% for maintenance and capital expenses, and 8–10% if a property manager runs it. Skipping them makes a bad deal look good on paper.
Cash-on-Cash Return
Annual cash flow divided by the cash you actually put in. It tells you what the deal returns on your money, which is the only number comparable to other investments.
Rules of Thumb
The 1% rule (monthly rent near 1% of purchase price) is a screening filter, not a decision. The 50% rule assumes half of rent goes to non-mortgage expenses over the long run — it is depressingly accurate.
Where Returns Actually Come From
Cash flow, loan paydown, appreciation, and tax treatment. A deal that barely cash flows can still perform well, but only if you can survive the months when it does not.
Cap rate and IRR
Compare properties on cap rate (before financing), or measure the return on the whole holding period including the sale with IRR.
Depreciation and BRRRR
Estimate the yearly depreciation deduction on the building, or run a buy-rehab-refinance deal to see how much cash stays in the property.
Next, read What Is Cash Flow?, How to Calculate NOI on a Rental Property and Party & Bounce House Rental Profit Calculator.
Financing the property? Take the mortgage line for this calculator from the mortgage calculator on our sister site Simple Mortgage Planning, which adds property tax, insurance and PMI to principal and interest.
Official sources
Tax rules, limits and pay data change. Check the current figures with the primary source before acting on them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is good cash flow on a rental property?+
Many investors target $150–$300 per unit per month after all expenses and reserves, with a cash-on-cash return of 6–10%.
Does the 1% rule still work?+
It is useful for quickly filtering listings, but in high-price markets almost nothing meets it. Use it to screen, then run the full numbers.
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