Rental Cash Flow Calculator Widget
Give landlords and investors the number that decides whether a rental pays its way. Rent, vacancy, tax, insurance, maintenance, management, HOA and the mortgage go in; net operating income, cash flow after debt service and the debt service coverage ratio come out.
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<iframe src="https://a2z.tools/embed/w/rental-cash-flow-calculator" title="Rental Cash Flow Calculator by A2Z Tools" width="100%" height="880" style="border:0;width:100%" loading="lazy" allow="clipboard-write"></iframe>
A plain iframe. Works everywhere, including site builders that strip scripts. Adjust height if your content needs more room.
<div data-a2z-widget="rental-cash-flow-calculator" data-height="880"></div> <script async src="https://a2z.tools/embed.js"></script>
Adds a small script (what it does) that sizes the widget to fit its content, loads it lazily and keeps it isolated from your page's CSS.
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How it works
Scheduled income is the monthly rent plus parking, laundry or other income, times twelve. A vacancy and bad-debt allowance comes off that to give collected income. Operating expenses are the yearly property tax and insurance, maintenance as a percentage of scheduled rent, management as a percentage of what is actually collected, and any HOA or service charge. Collected income minus those expenses is net operating income. The mortgage can be typed as a monthly payment or derived from the loan amount, rate and term; twelve payments make the annual debt service. Cash flow is NOI minus debt service, shown per month and per year, and DSCR is NOI divided by debt service. With $2,050 of monthly income, 5% vacancy, $4,200 of tax and insurance, 8% maintenance and 8% management, NOI is $15,380; after $1,100 a month of mortgage, $181.70 a month is left. Unlike the rental yield and cap rate widgets, which ignore financing, this one includes the loan.
Calculation method
- Scheduled income = (rent + other income) x 12
- Collected income (EGI) = scheduled income x (1 - vacancy %)
- Operating expenses = tax + insurance + rent x 12 x maintenance % + EGI x management % + HOA x 12
- NOI = EGI - operating expenses
- Annual cash flow = NOI - 12 x mortgage payment; monthly = annual / 12
- DSCR = NOI / annual debt service
Worked examples
Single-family rental with a mortgage
Inputs: Rent $2,000 + $50 other; 5% vacancy; tax $3,000; insurance $1,200; maintenance 8%; management 8%; mortgage $1,100
Result: NOI $15,380 a year; cash flow $181.70 a month ($2,180 a year); DSCR 1.17
Collected income $23,370 minus $7,989.60 of expenses gives the NOI; the mortgage takes $13,200 of it.
Same house bought for cash
Inputs: As above with no mortgage
Result: Cash flow $1,281.70 a month, equal to the NOI of $15,380 a year
Without debt there is no DSCR; cash flow and NOI are the same figure.
An estimate for planning, not financial or tax advice.
Limitations
- A single stabilised year: rent growth, expense inflation and tenant turnover costs are not projected.
- Income tax, depreciation, capital reserves and appreciation are outside the calculation.
- Management is taken as a share of collected income; some managers also charge leasing or renewal fees.
Where publishers use it
- A buy-to-let or BRRRR investing blog analysing a sample duplex
- A property management company's page showing owners its fee in context
- A real-estate agent's listing for an investment property
- A landlord association's guide to setting rent after a tax increase
- A DSCR lender's landing page explaining how loans are sized
Questions
How is this different from cap rate or rental yield?
Cap rate and rental yield compare income with the price and ignore how the purchase was financed. Cash flow subtracts the mortgage, so two identical houses can have the same 7% cap rate but very different cash flow if one was bought with 25% down at 7% and the other for cash.
What does DSCR mean?
Debt service coverage ratio: net operating income divided by the year's loan payments. 1.0 means the property exactly covers its mortgage; 1.25 means income is 25% higher than the debt payments. Lenders that underwrite rentals on property income set a minimum DSCR, and each sets its own.
What vacancy rate should I use?
Use local evidence: the number of weeks a unit typically sits empty between tenants plus rent you fail to collect. Two empty weeks a year is about 4%; one empty month is 8.3%. Student or holiday lets need higher figures.
Why is maintenance a percentage of rent?
It scales with the property and is a common planning convention; 5-10% of rent is often used for routine repairs. Large capital items - a roof, a boiler - are better budgeted separately as reserves, which this widget does not include.
Should the mortgage payment include tax and insurance?
No. Enter principal and interest only; property tax and insurance have their own fields so they count once. If your lender collects escrow, take the escrow part out of the payment before entering it.
Does principal repayment count as cash flow?
No. The principal part of each payment builds equity but it is still cash leaving your account, so cash flow subtracts the whole payment. Equity growth and appreciation are returns on top of cash flow.
Cite or recommend this tool
If you reference this tool in an article, course or documentation, these formats are ready to copy. They are optional - nothing is added to your site unless you paste it.
A2Z Tools Rental Cash Flow Calculator https://a2z.tools/embed/rental-cash-flow-calculator
<a href="https://a2z.tools/embed/rental-cash-flow-calculator">A2Z Tools Rental Cash Flow Calculator</a>
[A2Z Tools Rental Cash Flow Calculator](https://a2z.tools/embed/rental-cash-flow-calculator)
Rental Cash Flow Calculator by A2Z Tools - https://a2z.tools/embed/rental-cash-flow-calculator
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