Rental Property ROI Calculator: Calculate Cash-on-Cash Return for Short- and Long-Term Rentals
Enter your property numbers to calculate return on investment across your short-term rental in seconds.
Total acquisition cost, including closing costs if you choose to add them.
The cash you put in at closing, not the loan amount — this drives your cash-on-cash return figure.
Projected gross revenue per month across all booking channels; use a trailing 12-month average for accuracy.
Everything except the mortgage: platform fees, cleaning, insurance, utilities, and management costs.
Principal and interest only — exclude taxes and insurance if already counted in operating expenses.
Net cash remaining each month after operating expenses and mortgage payment.
How is the Rental Property Roi Calculator Helpful?
Calculator Icon (Lucide: calculator), Instant Return Snapshot
See your cash-on-cash return in seconds, before you commit a dollar to a property.
TrendingUp Icon (Lucide: trending-up), Compare Deals Side by Side
Run multiple purchase scenarios to find which property delivers the strongest net yield.
ShieldCheck Icon (Lucide: shield-check), Catch Unprofitable Listings Early
Spot negative cash flow before closing, not after your first slow season hits.
How the Rental Property Roi Calculator Works
The calculator runs five inputs through a standard cash-on-cash return formula. Enter each field accurately, small errors in expense figures compound quickly into misleading ROI numbers.
Purchase Price
Total acquisition cost, including closing costs
Sets the asset value baseline for your return calculation.
Down Payment ($)
The cash you put in at closing, not the loan amount — this drives your cash-on-cash return figure.
Monthly Rental Income
Projected gross revenue per month across all booking channels
Using a conservative estimate — 70–80% of peak-month revenue — produces a reliable ROI for most STR markets.
Monthly Operating Expenses
All costs except the mortgage: platform fees, cleaning, insurance, utilities, and management
Hosts who undercount operating expenses get surprised at tax time and overestimate their true return.
Monthly Mortgage Payment
Principal and interest only — exclude taxes and insurance if already counted in operating expenses.
Run Your First Rental Property Roi Calculator Calculation Today
Enter your numbers once and get a clear return figure in under two minutes.
No credit card required. Cancel anytime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Calculator Account for Airbnb or Vrbo Platform Fees?+
No. Use the Monthly Operating Expenses field to build those in manually. Add platform fees (typically 3% for Airbnb's host-only split) alongside cleaning costs, supplies, and property management fees before entering the total.
Should the Monthly Mortgage Payment Include Property Taxes and Insurance?+
Enter only principal and interest in Monthly Mortgage Payment. If your lender escrows taxes and insurance, include the full PITI figure, just don't also list those costs inside Monthly Operating Expenses or you'll double-count them.
What Cash-on-cash Return is Considered Strong for a Short-term Rental?+
Most STR investors target 8–12% cash-on-cash in competitive markets; high-demand vacation markets sometimes reach 15–20%. Anything below 6% warrants a hard look at whether the property performs better as a long-term rental.
Can the Rental Property Roi Calculator Reflect Seasonal Income Swings?+
The calculator uses a single monthly income figure, so run it twice: once with your low-season estimate and once with peak-season numbers. Averaging both outputs gives a more realistic annual picture.
How Does Down Payment Size Affect the ROI Result?+
A larger down payment lowers your Monthly Mortgage Payment and shifts your cash-on-cash ROI depending on net income. Run scenarios at 20%, 25%, and 30% down to find which capital structure pencils out for your market.