Cash on Cash Return Calculator
Calculate the cash on cash return for a rental property investment. Enter your rental income, expenses, and total cash invested to see your annual CoC return percentage. Free, no sign-up required.
Gross monthly rental income before expenses.
Property tax, insurance, maintenance, management, vacancy, HOA. Do NOT include mortgage payments here.
Monthly principal and interest payment. Enter 0 if you bought in cash.
Down payment + closing costs + rehab/repair costs. The total cash you put into the deal.
🏠 Cash on Cash Return
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Annual Cash Flow
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Monthly Cash Flow
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Annual Income
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Annual Expenses
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Annual Mortgage
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💡 What this means
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- Enter Monthly Rental Income — the gross rent you collect each month before any expenses.
- Enter Monthly Operating Expenses — property tax, insurance, maintenance, property management, vacancy allowance, and HOA fees. Do not include mortgage payments here.
- Enter Monthly Mortgage Payment — principal and interest only. Enter 0 if you purchased the property in cash (no loan).
- Enter Total Cash Invested — your down payment plus closing costs plus any rehab or repair costs. This is the actual cash you put into the deal.
- Click Calculate — see your cash on cash return percentage, annual and monthly cash flow, and a breakdown of income vs expenses.
📌 5 tips for evaluating cash on cash return
- ✓ Know the benchmark. A CoC return of 8–12% is considered good for rental property. Above 12% is excellent but may signal higher risk. Below 5% may not justify the effort when index funds average 7–10% annually with zero work.
- ✓ Include ALL expenses. Many investors underestimate vacancy (budget 5–8% of rent), maintenance (1% of property value per year), and capex reserves. Underestimating expenses inflates your CoC return and leads to bad decisions.
- ✓ CoC is only year-one cash flow. It ignores appreciation, loan paydown, and tax benefits like depreciation. A property with a 5% CoC return may still be a great investment if appreciation and equity buildup push total ROI above 15% annually.
- ✓ Compare across markets. Cash-flow markets (Midwest, South) often offer 10–15% CoC returns. Appreciation markets (West Coast, NYC) may offer 3–6% CoC but higher total returns. Use CoC to compare similar-strategy properties, not to compare cash-flow vs appreciation strategies.
- ✓ Stress-test your numbers. If rent drops 10% or expenses rise 15%, does the property still cash flow? A good CoC return should have enough margin to absorb vacancy spikes, unexpected repairs, or rate increases without going negative.
Disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates for educational purposes only. It does not account for property appreciation, depreciation tax benefits, loan paydown, or closing costs at sale. Real estate investments carry risks including vacancy, market downturns, and unexpected repairs. This tool is not financial advice. Consult a real estate professional or financial advisor for investment decisions tailored to your situation.
Related Tools
Cash on cash return is one of many metrics for evaluating real estate investments. These six calculators cover the rest of your toolkit — from cap rate and ROI to mortgage affordability and down payment planning.
- Cap Rate Calculator — calculate the capitalization rate of a property using net operating income and property value. The complement to cash on cash return.
- ROI Calculator — measure total return on investment as a percentage. Broader than CoC because it includes appreciation and equity buildup.
- Mortgage Calculator — calculate monthly mortgage payments (principal and interest) for any loan amount, rate, and term.
- Rental Property Calculator — a comprehensive rental property analysis tool covering cash flow, cap rate, and cash on cash return in one place.
- Down Payment Calculator — figure out how much cash you need upfront for a down payment, a key input for your cash on cash return calculation.
- Mortgage Affordability Calculator — determine how much house you can afford based on income and expenses, the first step before evaluating rental CoC return.