Frequently Asked Questions

A real estate cash flow calculator helps you determine the monthly profit or loss from a rental property investment. It factors in rental income, mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, and other expenses to calculate your net monthly cash flow, ROI, and cap rate.

To calculate rental property cash flow: take your monthly rental income, subtract all expenses (mortgage, property tax, insurance, HOA, property management, maintenance, repairs, utilities), and account for vacancy rates. The result is your monthly cash flow. Our calculator automates this entire process.

Yes! Many investors use a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) to finance their down payment or closing costs. Our calculator has built-in HELOC support, allowing you to model the interest-only payments and see how it affects your overall cash flow and returns.

A good cash-on-cash return for rental property typically ranges from 8-12%. However, this varies by market, property type, and investment strategy. Some investors accept lower returns (4-6%) in high-appreciation markets, while others target 15%+ in cash flow-focused markets.

Our calculator uses industry-standard formulas for mortgage calculations, cash flow analysis, and ROI projections. Accuracy depends on the quality of your input data. We recommend being conservative with rental income estimates and liberal with expense estimates for the most realistic projections.

Yes! Realty Cash Flow is completely free to use. You can run unlimited calculations, save up to 100 scenarios with a free account, and access all features including multi-family analysis, sensitivity analysis, and property comparison tools—all at no cost.

Yes! You can save up to 3 calculations locally in your browser without logging in. If you sign in with Google (free), you can save up to 100 calculations in the cloud and access them from any device.

Absolutely! Our calculator supports single-family, multi-family (2-4 units), and large multi-family properties. You can input individual unit rents or group similar units together for efficient analysis.

Yes! We have a seasonal rental mode where you can define different rental rates for different months of the year, perfect for vacation rentals, short-term rentals, or properties with seasonal demand.

The Advanced Projections tool provides month-by-month profit calculations over 5-30 years, including rent increases, expense inflation, appreciation, and mortgage paydown. For a detailed breakdown of all formulas, assumptions, and calculation methodology, see our comprehensive guide.

The Hold or Sell tool models your property's financial outcomes year-by-year, comparing what you'd walk away with if you sold today vs. continuing to hold. It accounts for appreciation, projected cash flow, mortgage paydown, selling costs, and optional adjustments like capital gains tax, opportunity cost, and mortgage break penalties. It also calculates your current Return on Equity (ROE) to help you assess whether your trapped equity is working hard enough. For a full breakdown of all formulas and methodology, see our detailed guide.

Cap rate measures the property's NOI (Net Operating Income) as a percentage of purchase price, ignoring financing. Cash-on-cash return measures your annual cash flow as a percentage of your actual cash invested (down payment + closing costs). Cash-on-cash is more relevant for leveraged investments.