Planning tools
Rent Investment Calculator
Explore mortgage, expenses, growth, and simplified tax assumptions in one view — including pre-tax vs after-tax returns. When you are ready for market-specific pricing, get a free rent estimate for your address.
Model cash flow and returns before you buy
Cash flow, equity paydown, appreciation, and simplified tax effects. Results are illustrative only and are not financial, tax, or lending advice.
Property
Purchase price
$400,000
$100,000
$2,000,000
Down payment
20%
5%
40%
Monthly rent
$3,000
$500
$10,000
Mortgage
Interest rate
6.0%
3.0%
12.0%
Loan term
30 yr
10 yr
30 yr
Expenses
Property tax (annual)
1.0% of value
0.3% of value
3.0% of value
Insurance (monthly)
$100
$40
$500
Maintenance (annual)
1.0% of value
0.5% of value
3.0% of value
Vacancy rate
4.0%
0.0%
15.0%
Growth
Annual appreciation
3.0%/yr
0.0%/yr
8.0%/yr
Rent growth
2.0%/yr
0.0%/yr
6.0%/yr
Tax assumptions
Marginal income tax rate
32%
10%
50%
Building value (% of price)
80% (land = 20%)
50% (land = 50%)
90% (land = 10%)
Refinance
Mortgage refinancing
Lower your monthly payment — refinancing to a better rate can meaningfully improve your cash flow month over month.
Doorstead partners with Lima One Capital for investor lending. Offers subject to credit and program guidelines.
Monthly snapshot
Monthly mortgage
$1,919
$320,000 financed
Monthly cash flow
$195
$2,337 / year (pre-tax)
Monthly breakdown
$3,000 gross rent
Mortgage P&I
-$1,919
Property tax
-$333
Insurance
-$100
Maintenance
-$333
Vacancy loss
-$120
Net cash flow
$195
Operating metrics
Cap rate
6.34%
NOI / purchase price
Gross rent mult.
11.1x
Price / annual rent
DSCR
1.10
Below 1.25 threshold
Break-even occupancy
89.5%
Occupancy to cover mortgage + operating
Full return stack (year 1, on cash invested)
Cash-on-cash
$2,337/yr
2.92%
Equity paydown (principal from rent)
$3,930/yr
4.91%
Appreciation (leveraged)
$12,000/yr
15.00%
Total pre-tax return
$18,267/yr
22.83%
Net tax benefit (after-tax adj.)
$1,718/yr
2.15%
Total after-tax return
$19,985/yr
24.98%
Pre-tax total
22.83%
After-tax total
24.98%
CoC (pre-tax)
2.92%
Tax benefits (Schedule E, year 1)
Annual deductions
Mortgage interest
$19,093
Property tax
$4,000
Insurance
$1,200
Maintenance / repairs
$4,000
Depreciation ($320,000 ÷ 27.5 yrs)
$11,636
Total deductions
$39,929
Taxable rental income
-$5,369
Net tax benefit (32% marginal rate)
$1,718
After-tax cash flow
$338/mo
$4,055/yr
After-tax CoC
5.07%
vs 2.92% pre-tax
10-year projection
Equity at year 10
$269,772
$80,000 invested
After-tax CF (10yr cumul.)
$68,369
Pre-tax cumulative CF plus tax benefit × years (simplified)
How to internalize
You are building wealth through:
- Property appreciation
- Principal paydown
- Tax deductions
Rental investment calculator: model returns before you buy
Doorstead's rental investment calculator models the full economics of a rental property before you make an offer. Enter purchase price, down payment, mortgage rate, and expected rent, and the tool returns monthly cash flow, cap rate, cash-on-cash return, DSCR, and a 10-year equity projection. Unlike a basic rental property calculator that stops at gross income minus expenses, this one breaks out the full return stack — appreciation, principal paydown, and Schedule E tax benefits — so you can compare pre-tax and after-tax returns in one view.
Free rent calculator for landlords and investors
If you're trying to figure out what to charge, the same tool works as a rent calculator. Plug in your mortgage, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, and vacancy assumptions, and you'll see the rent level required to hit break-even occupancy or a specific cash-on-cash target. It's a useful sanity check before you list, especially in markets where rent growth has slowed and small pricing mistakes compound across a 12-month lease.
Get a market-specific rental estimate for your address
For a rental estimate tied to your actual address, run a free rent estimate alongside the calculator. The rental estimate uses local comps, seasonality, and property-level attributes that a generic rent calculator can't see, giving you a defensible asking price instead of a guess. Combining the two means your investment model is built on a realistic rent number — not optimistic inputs that make a marginal deal look better than it is.
What makes this rental property calculator different
Most rental property investment calculators online stop at year-one cash flow, which misses where wealth actually compounds: equity buildup, leveraged appreciation, and depreciation deductions on Schedule E. Doorstead's calculator surfaces all three, projects them across a 10-year hold, and lets you stress-test interest rate, vacancy, and rent growth assumptions — so you can decide whether a deal pencils before you commit capital or hand it off to a property manager.
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