BrickAtlasCalculatorsCash flow
Rental cash flow calculator
Start with rent, take out vacancy and operating costs, then take out the mortgage. What is left is the monthly cash flow on a BrickAtlas rental memo.
Calculate rental cash flow
Enter the rent, vacancy, expenses, and loan Analyst uses. The result is monthly and annual cash flow after debt service, plus the NOI those expenses produce.
Purchase and loan
Income
Annual operating costs
Percent of gross rent
Monthly cash flow
$296
$3,550 per year after vacancy, operating expenses, and debt service.
- Gross rent
- $25,200
- Vacancy
- $1,260
- Operating expenses
- $9,032
- NOI
- $14,908
- Annual debt service
- $11,358
- Monthly cash flow
- $296
- Purchase closing
- $5,550
- Cash invested
- $86,800
How rental cash flow is calculated
Cash flow = effective income − operating expenses − debt service
Effective income is monthly rent minus vacancy. Operating expenses are taxes, insurance, HOA, land or lot rent, maintenance, and property management. Maintenance and management are percents of gross rent. Debt service is the principal-and-interest payment. Annual cash flow is the monthly result times 12.
The sample loaded above is the product’s default rental. Monthly cash flow is $296 ($3,550 per year) after vacancy, operating expenses, and the mortgage.
Vacancy hits income first
Vacancy is a percent of gross rent and comes out before expenses. Maintenance and management still use gross rent, which is how the Analyst operating statement is built.
NOI stops before the mortgage
NOI is effective income minus operating expenses. Cash flow goes one step further and subtracts the mortgage. Cap rate uses NOI. This page’s headline uses cash flow.
Closing costs are not a monthly expense
Purchase closing defaults to 3% of price and sits in cash invested for cash-on-cash. It is not subtracted again inside monthly cash flow.
What this number doesn’t tell you
Monthly cash flow is the leftover after the operating statement and the loan. It does not say the price is cheap, the loan will refinance, or the city fits the portfolio. BrickAtlas runs that loop after the screen: persona, metros, listings, then a strategy-aware Investment Memo.
How hard the cash was to earn
The same monthly cash flow is a different deal if one buyer put in $40,000 and another put in $150,000. Cash-on-cash divides that cash flow by cash invested.
Whether the rent is even plausible
The 1% rule is a rent-to-price screen, not a cash-flow statement. A property can clear 1% of price and still go negative once taxes, vacancy, and the mortgage are in.
Whether this market fits
Positive cash flow in the wrong metro is still the wrong next investment. Explore ranks cities with Atlas Score and persona Match before you underwrite an address.
FAQ
- What is rental property cash flow?
- Cash flow is the rent left after vacancy, operating expenses, and the mortgage. BrickAtlas calculates it monthly, then multiplies by 12 for the annual figure used in cash-on-cash and ROI.
- Which expenses does this calculator include?
- Property taxes, insurance, HOA, land or lot rent, maintenance as a percent of gross rent, and property management as a percent of gross rent. Vacancy comes out of rent first. The mortgage comes out last.
- Is this the same cash flow as BrickAtlas Analyst?
- Yes. The operating statement matches Analyst, including the default maintenance and management rates when you leave the sample in place. Rehab is not a monthly expense. It is cash invested.
- What monthly cash flow does BrickAtlas treat as strong?
- BrickAtlas marks monthly cash flow under $0 as weak, from $0 up to $200 as thin, and $200 or more as strong. The band is a screen. DSCR, condition, and market fit still decide the deal.
- Where should I go after a cash-flow screen?
- If the leftover looks workable, open Analyst on the address for cap rate, DSCR, and an Investment Memo. If you are still choosing a city, start in Explore.
Take the statement into a full memo
Set a persona, explore metros that match, and underwrite the address with cash flow, cap rate, and strategy in one place.
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