Property & Rental calculators, in short
Housing decisions come down to two questions: is buying cheaper than renting over the time you will stay, and does a rental clear its costs. A rental either clears its costs or it does not, and the deals that fail usually fail on expenses that get left out. Screening starts with cash flow, then cap rate and cash-on-cash for comparison.
Popular tools in this category
- Home Affordability by Salary Calculator — The home price, loan and monthly housing payment your gross salary supports under adjustable 28/36 ratios.
- Rent vs Buy Calculator — Year-by-year cost and equity for both paths, the break-even year, and the single assumption deciding the verdict.
- Rent-to-Own vs Buy Calculator — Cash spent and equity built under a rent-to-own agreement versus buying the same home now, over the same period.
What can you calculate here?
- Whether renting or buying costs less over the years you plan to stay, and the break-even year
- Monthly and annual cash flow after mortgage, taxes, insurance, and reserves
- Cap rate on the purchase price, unlevered so deals compare fairly
- Cash-on-cash return against the cash you actually put in
Start here
The decision tools and guides for property & rental
These go beyond a single figure: they solve backwards from what you can afford, compare scenarios, and name the input deciding the answer. The guides work the same questions through with real numbers.
Decision tools
- Rent vs Buy Calculator — Projects both paths month by month, finds the break-even year if there is one, and names the assumption deciding the answer.
Guides
- How much house can I afford on my salary? — Convert income, debts and a down payment into a home-price range, with the tax and insurance drag included.
- Rent vs buy: how long do you need to stay for buying to win? — Find the year buying overtakes renting under your own assumptions — and which assumption is deciding it.
4 calculators
Property
Home Affordability by Salary Calculator
The home price, loan and monthly housing payment your gross salary supports under adjustable 28/36 ratios.
Property
Rent vs Buy Calculator
Year-by-year cost and equity for both paths, the break-even year, and the single assumption deciding the verdict.
Property
Rent-to-Own vs Buy Calculator
Cash spent and equity built under a rent-to-own agreement versus buying the same home now, over the same period.
Property
Rental Property Cash Flow Calculator
Screen a rental in one pass: mortgage payment, operating expenses, cash flow, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return.
Every property & rental calculator
Each tool below shows the formula it uses, a worked example, and what the result means in practice.
- Home Affordability by Salary CalculatorThe home price, loan and monthly housing payment your gross salary supports under adjustable 28/36 ratios.
- Rent vs Buy CalculatorYear-by-year cost and equity for both paths, the break-even year, and the single assumption deciding the verdict.
- Rent-to-Own vs Buy CalculatorCash spent and equity built under a rent-to-own agreement versus buying the same home now, over the same period.
- Rental Property Cash Flow CalculatorScreen a rental in one pass: mortgage payment, operating expenses, cash flow, cap rate, and cash-on-cash return.
Common questions about property & rental calculations
- Should I rent or buy?
- It depends mostly on how long you stay and what the freed-up cash would earn. The Rent vs Buy Calculator compares total rent against ownership cost net of equity and shows the year the two cross over.
- What expenses do people forget on a rental?
- Vacancy, maintenance reserves, capital expenditure, and property management. Leaving them out is what turns a deal that looked positive into one that loses money in its first bad month.
- What counts as a good cash flow figure?
- There is no universal number — it depends on your reserves and market. What matters is that cash flow is positive after honest expense assumptions, and that cap rate and cash-on-cash hold up against other deals you could buy instead.