Cash-on-Cash Return Calculator
The annual pre-tax cash return on the cash you actually put into a property.
Result
Cash-on-cash return: 5.34%Estimate
This is not a total return. It excludes principal paydown, any change in property value and every tax effect, and the site supplies no appreciation assumption.
- Total cash invested
- $92,600.00
- Monthly cash flow
- $411.83Estimate
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Results are arithmetic from the numbers you enter, not investment, lending, tax or valuation advice. The site supplies no rents, prices, cap rates or market data, and whether a deal is sound depends on facts no calculator can see. Read the full disclaimer
How to use the Cash-on-Cash Return Calculator
- Enter the annual pre-tax cash flow, which is net operating income less debt service.
- Enter the down payment, closing costs and any up-front repairs you paid.
- Add anything else you paid in cash to get the property working.
Return on the cash you actually put in
cash-on-cash = annual pre-tax cash flow ÷ total cash investedThe denominator is the money that left your account: the down payment, the closing costs, the repairs needed before a tenant could move in, and anything else you paid to get there. The borrowed portion is deliberately not in it.
Why leverage moves it so much
Borrowing more reduces the cash invested faster than it reduces the cash flow, up to a point. That is why the same property can show a modest cap rate and a much higher cash-on-cash return, and why the number rises as the down payment falls.
It cuts both ways. The same leverage that lifts the return in a good year deepens the hole in a bad one, and a property with thin coverage has less room before the cash flow turns negative. The measure reports the return, not the risk that came with it.
What is missing from it
Three things that matter to a real return are absent here, all of them deliberately:
Principal paydown is real wealth but not cash, and it is not counted. Any change in the property value is a forecast, and this site supplies none. Tax effects depend on circumstances the calculator cannot see.
For the multi-year picture, put the cash flows you expect into the NPV or IRR calculators, where the assumptions are yours and visible.
With your numbers
- Cash invested = $92,600.00
- Cash-on-cash = $4,941.92 ÷ $92,600.00 = 5.34%
- This counts cash only: principal paydown and any change in value are not in it
Quick reference
This is not a total return. It excludes principal paydown, any change in property value and every tax effect, and the site supplies no appreciation assumption.
| Example | Cash-on-cash return |
|---|---|
| Worked example | 5.34% |
| No up-front repairs | 5.65% |
| Larger down payment | 5.83% |
| Heavy rehab | 5.93% |
| Negative cash flow | -1.75% |
| Bought outright | 7.1% |
Common questions about the Cash-on-Cash Return Calculator
- How is this different from return on investment?
- It counts cash only, and only for one year. Principal paydown builds equity but is not cash in your pocket, and a change in the property value is not either. Both are excluded here.
- Is this different from the cap rate?
- Yes, and the difference is the loan. A cap rate divides income by the whole price and ignores financing. This divides cash flow by the cash you actually put in, so leverage changes it directly.
- Should I include the loan amount as invested?
- No. The point of the measure is to isolate your own cash. Borrowed money is not cash you invested, which is why a larger loan usually raises this return and also raises the risk.
- What if I paid cash for the property?
- Then the cash invested is the whole purchase plus costs, and the return converges towards the cap rate. The two measures only differ because of borrowing.