NOMAD BUSINESS SYSTEMS · Toolbox

Free rental cash flow calculator

Practice rental analysis by comparing income, vacancy, expenses, reserves and financing. Change one assumption, see its effect on the monthly estimate, and identify what you still need to verify.

Results appear without an account or email gate. The starting values are a hypothetical example; replace them with evidence for the property you are studying.

Try a one-minute vacancy exercise

How vacancy changes monthly cash flow

A vacancy allowance makes one assumption visible: you may not collect the full rent every month. Try this hypothetical example in the calculator below.

  1. Set Expected monthly rent to $2,000 and Vacancy reserve % to 5. Leave the other inputs unchanged and note the monthly cash flow.
  2. Change only Vacancy reserve % to 10. Compare the result and the vacancy line under Show me the math.

At 5%, the allowance is $100 per month. At 10%, it is $200. With everything else held constant, modeled monthly cash flow falls by $100.

These percentages are practice inputs, not a forecast or a recommended allowance. Before using your own estimate, write down one question: What local evidence would support it?

Property and loan

Income and operating assumptions

These sample percentages are practice inputs, not local benchmarks or recommended allowances. Record the source and date of your own assumptions.

Monthly cash flow
$0

Modeled cash left after costs, reserves, and principal and interest.

Cash-on-cash0.0%
Yield before debt, after reserves0.0%
Debt coverage, after reserves0.00
Monthly rent / price0.00%

Read the estimate

Compare the income and costs represented by your inputs.

Verify inputs

Show me the math

Gross monthly rent$0
- vacancy reserve-$0
= effective rent$0
- management, maintenance, capex-$0
- taxes, insurance, HOA, utilities, other-$0
= after costs and reserves, before debt$0
- monthly principal and interest-$0
= monthly cash flow$0
Annual cash flow$0
Breakeven rent$0
5 like this$0/mo

Stress test

Each example changes one input and holds the others fixed. These comparisons illustrate sensitivity; they are not forecasts.

Rent down 10%$0/mo
Vacancy at 15%$0/mo
Rate up 1 point$0/mo

Understand your rental cash flow estimate

Why can the monthly cash flow be negative?

In this model, a negative result means the costs, reserves and loan payment you entered exceed the rent remaining after the vacancy allowance. It describes your inputs, not a verified property outcome. Check the breakdown and the evidence behind each estimate.

How are monthly costs calculated?

Annual taxes and insurance are divided by 12. Vacancy, management, maintenance and capex allowances are each calculated from gross monthly rent. HOA, utilities and other monthly costs are added separately. The loan payment covers principal and interest; initial repairs and closing costs are included in cash invested instead of monthly expenses.

What do the other figures mean?

Cash-on-cash divides modeled annual cash flow by the down payment, initial repairs and closing costs. Yield before debt divides annual income after the modeled costs and reserves by the purchase price. Debt coverage divides that same monthly amount by principal and interest. Monthly rent / price is simply gross monthly rent divided by purchase price.

Cash-on-cash is shown as n/a when the entered cash invested is zero. Breakeven rent is shown as n/a when percentage allowances total 100% or more; this model cannot solve for one breakeven rent in that case. With 100% down, debt coverage shows No debt.

This model subtracts capex reserves before its yield and coverage figures. Those labels make that treatment explicit; these are not a lender's underwriting results. Different tools may classify reserves differently, so compare their formulas before comparing their percentages.

For a useful next conversation, save your example and bring one question: Which assumption needs better evidence, and where could I find it?

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