Return on your own capital
Cash on Cash Return Calculator
Cash-on-cash return is annual pre-tax cash flow divided by the cash you actually put in — down payment, closing costs and rehab, not just the down payment. The example below computes to 4.75%, and both halves of the fraction are shown so you can see exactly what is being divided by what.
Deal snapshot
Cash-on-cash return
4.75%
+$3,841 of annual pre-tax cash flow on $80,875 of cash in the deal.
Monthly cash flow
+$320
Cash invested
$80,875
Cap rate
7.29%
DSCR
1.25
Net operating income
$19,310
Loan payment / mo
$1,289.09
Pre-tax cash flow
Cash flow = NOI − annual debt service
= $19,310 − $15,469
= +$3,841 per year, +$320 per month
Total cash invested
Cash in = down payment + closing costs + rehab
= $66,250 + $6,625 + $8,000
= $80,875
Cash-on-cash return
CoC = annual cash flow ÷ total cash invested
= +$3,841 ÷ $80,875
= 4.75%
Your numbers
| Annual operating statement | Per year |
|---|---|
| Gross scheduled rent | $31,800 |
| Other income | $900 |
| Gross potential income | $32,700 |
| Vacancy and credit loss | ($1,635) |
| Effective gross income | $31,065 |
| Property tax | ($3,420) |
| Insurance | ($1,650) |
| Utilities | ($720) |
| Other operating | ($300) |
| Property managementon collected rent | ($2,485) |
| Maintenance reserveon scheduled rent | ($1,590) |
| CapEx reserveon scheduled rent | ($1,590) |
| Total operating expenses | ($11,755) |
| Net operating income | $19,310 |
| Annual debt servicenot an operating expense | ($15,469) |
| Pre-tax cash flow | +$3,841 |
Debt service sits below net operating income, never inside it. That single placement is what keeps cap rate a property metric instead of a loan metric.
| Acquisition | Amount |
|---|---|
| Purchase price | $265,000 |
| Loan amount | $198,750 |
| Down payment | $66,250 |
| Closing costs | $6,625 |
| Up-front rehab | $8,000 |
| Total cash invested | $80,875 |
| All-in costprice + closing + rehab | $279,625 |
| Monthly principal and interest | $1,289.09 |
- Break-even occupancy
- 82.2%
- Break-even rent
- $2,236 / mo
- Operating expense ratio
- 37.8%
- Year-one principal paydown
- $2,118
| Scenario | NOI | Cap rate | Cash-on-cash | DSCR | Cash flow / mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -15% rent | $15,618 | 5.89% | 0.18% | 1.01 | +$12 |
| -10% rent | $16,848 | 6.36% | 1.71% | 1.09 | +$115 |
| -5% rent | $18,079 | 6.82% | 3.23% | 1.17 | +$218 |
| 0% rent | $19,310 | 7.29% | 4.75% | 1.25 | +$320 |
| +5% rent | $20,540 | 7.75% | 6.27% | 1.33 | +$423 |
| +10% rent | $21,771 | 8.22% | 7.79% | 1.41 | +$525 |
Each row is the whole model re-run with one variable moved — not a slope estimated from the base case.
Which denominator is right?
This is where most reported returns go wrong. The same $3,841 of annual cash flow produces three very different-looking returns depending on what you divide it by, and only one of them is honest.
| What is counted | Cash invested | Reported return |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment only | $66,250 | 5.80% |
| Down payment + closing costs | $72,875 | 5.27% |
| Down payment + closing + rehab | $80,875 | 4.75% |
A full percentage point of difference on identical facts. When you see a cash-on-cash figure in a listing, an offering memorandum or a spreadsheet, the first question is which row it came from.
How leverage moves the number
More borrowing means less capital committed and a smaller cash flow. Which effect wins depends on whether the property’s unlevered yield beats the interest rate. Here the cap rate is 7.29% and the loan costs 6.75%, so leverage is mildly accretive — each extra borrowed dollar earns more than it costs, and the return rises as the down payment falls, right up until DSCR fails.
- 25% down. $80,875 in, $3,841 out, 4.75% — and a DSCR of 1.25.
- 20% down. $67,625 in, $2,809 out, 4.15% — but DSCR falls to 1.17, below most lender floors.
- All cash. $279,625 in, $19,310 out, 6.91% — the all-in cap rate, which is what cash-on-cash converges to when there is no loan.
Positive leverage is not free
Common questions about cash on cash return
- What is the cash on cash return formula?
- Cash-on-cash = annual pre-tax cash flow ÷ total cash invested. On the example loaded here, $3,841 of cash flow on $80,875 of cash in — $66,250 down, $6,625 closing, $8,000 rehab — is a 4.75% return.
- What counts as cash invested?
- Every dollar that leaves your account to get the property producing: down payment, buyer-side closing costs, loan points, up-front rehab, and any furniture or appliances you had to buy. Using only the down payment is the most common way a pro forma inflates itself — on this deal it would report 5.80% instead of 4.75%.
- What is a good cash on cash return?
- Judge it against the alternatives rather than a fixed target. Cash-on-cash is the cash-flow component only, so the right benchmark is what safe income pays today plus a premium for illiquidity and management. Investors buying for cash flow commonly look for 8% or better; investors buying for appreciation accept far less, and should say so out loud.
- Why is my cash on cash return so low when the property cash flows fine?
- Because the denominator is large. Putting 25% down on a $265,000 property plus costs and rehab is $80,875 of capital doing the work; $320 a month against that is 4.75%. The same property with 20% down would produce less monthly cash flow but a slightly higher return on the smaller amount of capital committed.
- Does cash on cash return include appreciation?
- No, and that is its main limitation. On this deal, year one also brings $2,118 of loan principal paid down and $7,950 of appreciation at a 3% assumption. Counting all three components the year-one return is 17.2% rather than 4.75% — see the rental property ROI calculator for that breakdown.
To count principal paydown, appreciation and the depreciation shield alongside cash flow, use the rental property ROI calculator. To check the property can carry its loan at all, use the DSCR calculator, and for the unlevered view the cap rate calculator.
The rest of the deal, on the same numbers
Your inputs are shared across every calculator on this site, so changing a figure here changes it everywhere.
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