# Property Cash Flow Calculator (Monthly) Calculate monthly rental property cash flow and DSCR from rent, vacancy, the full operating expense stack, and the mortgage payment. --- - **Canonical URL:** https://dothecalculation.com/calculators/property-cash-flow-calculator - **Category:** Real Estate & Property - **Publisher:** Do The Calculation (https://dothecalculation.com) - **Cost:** Free, no account or sign-up required - **Privacy:** Runs entirely in the browser; inputs are never sent to a server - **Methodology:** https://dothecalculation.com/methodology --- ## Property Cash Flow Calculator Calculate real monthly cash flow on a rental property — rent, vacancy loss, operating expenses, management fees, and the mortgage payment — plus the DSCR figure lenders actually underwrite against. - Full expense stack: tax, insurance, maintenance, HOA, management - Includes DSCR, the ratio lenders use to size your loan - Shows both monthly and annual cash flow side by side ## Quick Answer — What's Left After Every Expense? **Monthly Cash Flow = Effective Income − Operating Expenses − Mortgage Payment**, where Effective Income already accounts for vacancy loss and Operating Expenses includes property tax, insurance, maintenance, HOA, and property management fees. This is the number that actually lands in your bank account each month — not gross rent, not even net operating income (NOI), but what's left after debt service too. **Worked example — healthy single-family rental:** $2,400 monthly rent, 5% vacancy rate, $200 property tax, $90 insurance, $120 maintenance, no HOA, 8% management fee, $1,300 mortgage payment. Effective income = $2,400 × (1 − 5%) = **$2,280**. Operating expenses (including $182.40 management fee) = **$592.40**. Monthly NOI = $2,280 − $592.40 = **$1,687.60**. Monthly cash flow = $1,687.60 − $1,300 = **$387.60**, with a DSCR of **1.30** — comfortably above the 1.20-1.25 ratio most lenders require. **A tighter example — condo, self-managed:** $1,900 rent plus $50 other income, 6% vacancy, $180 tax, $75 insurance, $100 maintenance, $275 HOA, 0% management fee (self-managed), $1,300 mortgage. Effective income = **$1,833**. Monthly cash flow comes out to **−$97**, with a DSCR of **0.93** — below 1.0, meaning the property's NOI alone doesn't cover the mortgage payment, even without paying a management company. ## How to Use This Calculator Enter monthly rent and any other monthly income (parking, storage, laundry), your expected vacancy rate as a percentage, then the full expense stack: property tax, insurance, maintenance reserve, HOA dues, and management fee percentage. Finally, enter your total monthly mortgage payment (principal, interest, and if escrowed, taxes/insurance — just make sure you're not double-counting tax and insurance if your mortgage payment already bundles them). **A third example — overleveraged property:** $1,600 rent, 8% vacancy, $300 tax, $120 insurance, $150 maintenance, no HOA, 10% management fee, $1,500 mortgage payment. Effective income = **$1,472**. Monthly cash flow = **−$745.20**, DSCR = **0.50** — the property's NOI covers only half the mortgage payment, a clear sign the purchase price or loan terms don't match what the property can actually generate. If you're evaluating a short-term rental instead of a long-term lease, start with the [short-term rental revenue calculator](/calculators/short-term-rental-revenue-calculator) to get a realistic gross revenue figure first — ADR and occupancy don't translate directly into a 'monthly rent' figure the way a long-term lease does. ## The Formula This Calculator Uses **Effective Monthly Income** = (Rent + Other Income) × (1 − Vacancy Rate). **Management Fee** = Effective Monthly Income × Management Fee %. **Monthly Operating Expenses** = Property Tax + Insurance + Maintenance + HOA + Management Fee. **Monthly NOI** = Effective Monthly Income − Monthly Operating Expenses. **Monthly Cash Flow** = Monthly NOI − Mortgage Payment. **Annual Cash Flow** = Monthly Cash Flow × 12. **DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio)** = Monthly NOI ÷ Mortgage Payment. This is the exact ratio most rental-property lenders use to size a loan — see the next section for what counts as a strong number. ## DSCR — The Number Lenders Actually Underwrite Against DSCR measures how many times over your property's NOI covers the mortgage payment. A DSCR of 1.0 means NOI exactly equals the mortgage payment — zero cushion. Most conventional and DSCR-loan-program lenders want to see **1.20-1.25 or higher**, meaning NOI needs to exceed the mortgage payment by 20-25% before they'll approve financing at standard terms; a lower DSCR often means a smaller loan, a higher rate, or a larger down payment requirement to compensate. This is a different, stricter test than a simple positive-cash-flow check, because DSCR only looks at NOI versus debt service — it ignores whether the *dollar amount* of cash flow is enough to matter to you personally. A property can clear 1.25 DSCR and still only produce $150/month in actual cash flow, which is why this calculator reports both figures rather than just one. If your DSCR comes back below 1.0, don't just look at raising rent — first check whether the [net operating income calculator](/calculators/net-operating-income-calculator) or [rental yield calculator](/calculators/rental-yield-calculator) suggests you're using unrealistic vacancy or expense assumptions elsewhere; a DSCR problem is often an underwriting-assumptions problem before it's a deal problem. ## What This Calculator Doesn't Account For This is a cash-basis monthly snapshot — it doesn't include capital expenditures (roof, HVAC, major systems) beyond whatever you've budgeted into the maintenance line, and it doesn't account for appreciation, principal paydown building equity, or tax benefits like depreciation, all of which factor into total return but not monthly cash flow. It also assumes a single, static mortgage payment — if you're comparing financing scenarios (different down payments, rates, or loan terms), you'll need to recompute the mortgage payment for each scenario before entering it here. Finally, vacancy rate here is a flat assumption applied evenly across the year; real vacancy is lumpy (a unit sitting empty for two months out of twelve is a very different cash-flow experience than the same 16.7% vacancy rate spread evenly), so treat the output as an average-case planning figure, not a monthly forecast. ## Frequently asked questions ### What's considered good monthly cash flow on a rental property? There's no universal number since it depends on property price and market, but many investors target at least $100-300/month per unit as a minimum cushion, alongside a DSCR of 1.20-1.25 or higher. A property with positive but very thin cash flow (like $50/month) leaves little room for unexpected expenses. ### What DSCR do lenders typically require? Most conventional and DSCR-loan-program lenders want 1.20-1.25 or higher. A DSCR below 1.0 means the property's NOI doesn't fully cover the mortgage payment, which typically means a smaller loan amount, a higher rate, or a larger down payment to qualify. ### What's the difference between NOI and cash flow? NOI (Net Operating Income) is income minus operating expenses only — it doesn't subtract the mortgage payment. Cash flow subtracts the mortgage payment from NOI, so cash flow is always lower than NOI on a financed property. DSCR is the ratio between the two. ### Should I include CapEx (roof, HVAC) in the maintenance line? Many investors add a separate CapEx reserve (often 5-10% of rent) on top of routine maintenance, since a full CapEx budget beyond routine repairs isn't broken out separately here. Fold a realistic CapEx allowance into your maintenance figure so the cash flow number reflects true long-term costs, not just this year's expenses. ### Why does my mortgage payment matter differently here than in NOI? NOI is calculated before debt service specifically so it reflects the property's own performance regardless of financing — that's what lenders use for DSCR. Cash flow, on the other hand, is what actually reaches you after your specific loan's payment, which is why the same property can have identical NOI but very different cash flow depending on how it's financed. ### How is this different from the short-term rental revenue calculator? The [short-term rental revenue calculator](/calculators/short-term-rental-revenue-calculator) estimates gross and net revenue from nightly bookings (ADR × occupancy). This calculator takes a monthly income figure — from either a long-term lease or an STR revenue estimate — and subtracts the full expense stack plus mortgage payment to get to actual cash flow and DSCR. ## Related concepts - **DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio)** — Monthly NOI divided by the mortgage payment; the primary ratio lenders use to size and approve rental property loans. - **Effective income** — Gross rental income after subtracting an assumed vacancy loss percentage, used as the starting point for expense and cash flow calculations. - **Operating expenses** — Recurring costs of running a rental property — tax, insurance, maintenance, HOA, and management fees — excluding the mortgage payment. ## Related guides - [Airbnb ROI Guide: How to Calculate Cap Rate, Cash Flow, and Cash-on-Cash Return](https://dothecalculation.com/blog/property/airbnb-roi-guide) — Underwrite short-term rentals like a professional. Learn how to calculate cap rate, monthly net cash flow, and occupancy-driven returns using actual vacation rental math. ## Related calculators - [Net Operating Income (NOI) Calculator](https://dothecalculation.com/calculators/net-operating-income-calculator) — Calculate a rental property Net Operating Income from gross rent, other income, vacancy loss, and a full operating expense breakdown. - [Rental Property ROI Calculator](https://dothecalculation.com/calculators/rental-property-roi-calculator) — Calculate rental property ROI with projected monthly cash flow, cap rate, cash-on-cash return, and net operating income for investment properties. - [Airbnb ROI Calculator](https://dothecalculation.com/calculators/airbnb-roi-calculator) — Calculate Airbnb rental ROI, including projected monthly cash flow, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return, to evaluate short-term rental profitability. - [Rental Yield Calculator (Gross & Net)](https://dothecalculation.com/calculators/rental-yield-calculator) — Calculate gross and net rental yield from purchase price, rent, vacancy, and operating expenses to see real return, not just the headline number. - [Commercial Debt Yield & DSCR Calculator](https://dothecalculation.com/calculators/debt-yield-commercial-calculator) — Calculate commercial mortgage debt yield, debt service coverage ratio, and maximum underwritten loan amount for commercial property financing. - [Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM) Calculator](https://dothecalculation.com/calculators/gross-rent-multiplier-calculator) — Estimate property value and calculate the Gross Rent Multiplier from purchase price and annual rental income for quick investment screening. --- _This calculator is for educational and planning purposes and uses simplified assumptions (flat vacancy rate, static mortgage payment, no CapEx reserve breakout). Actual lending requirements, DSCR thresholds, and property performance vary. Consult a mortgage professional or property manager before making a financing or purchase decision._ --- _Source: [Do The Calculation](https://dothecalculation.com/calculators/property-cash-flow-calculator). Quote freely with attribution and a link to this page._