Cash-on-Cash Return Calculator
Enter the cash you put into the deal and its monthly cash flow to get your levered annual return instantly. No signup — the numbers update as you type.
Same conventions as the full DealQuanta engine — computed from the numbers you enter, not market data. Not financial advice.
Run the full free analysis — Score, cash flow, all metrics →The cash-on-cash formula
Total cash invested is your down payment plus closing costs plus any upfront rehab — the money that actually left your account. Annual pre-tax cash flow is what's left each year after all operating expenses and the mortgage payment. Unlike cap rate, cash-on-cash is a levered metric: a bigger loan means less cash in and (usually) less cash flow, and the ratio captures both sides.
Worked example
You buy with a $50,000 down payment, $5,000 of closing costs and a $10,000 rehab budget. After expenses and the mortgage the property cash-flows $450/month:
- Total cash invested: $50,000 + $5,000 + $10,000 = $65,000
- Annual cash flow: $450 × 12 = $5,400
- Cash-on-cash: $5,400 ÷ $65,000 × 100 = 8.31%
These are the calculator's default inputs — same math, same result, same conventions as the tested DealQuanta engine.
Getting the cash flow number right
The ratio is only as honest as the monthly cash flow you feed it. Underwrite with a vacancy allowance and reserves for maintenance and CapEx — not just principal, interest, taxes and insurance. If you don't have a cash flow number yet, derive it first: the NOI calculator builds the income-side number, and the full free calculator computes cash flow, cash-on-cash, cap rate and DSCR together from one set of inputs — so the numbers can't drift apart.
FAQ
- What is a good cash-on-cash return?
- Many buy-and-hold investors target 8–12% cash-on-cash. Below about 5% the deal usually depends on appreciation or loan paydown to work; well above 12% often reflects higher-risk markets or aggressive assumptions. Treat the target as a screen, then sanity-check the inputs producing the number.
- How is cash-on-cash different from cap rate?
- Cap rate measures the property's unlevered yield on its price and ignores financing entirely. Cash-on-cash measures the return on the cash you personally put in, after the mortgage payment — so the same property shows different cash-on-cash returns to buyers with different loans.
- What counts as cash invested?
- Everything you paid out of pocket to acquire and stabilize the property: down payment, closing costs, and any upfront rehab or make-ready budget. It does not include the loan principal — that's the lender's money.
- Is cash-on-cash the same as ROI or IRR?
- No. Cash-on-cash is a single-year snapshot of cash yield. IRR is a multi-year rate of return that also captures rent growth, appreciation, loan paydown and the eventual sale. DealQuanta Pro computes IRR from a 10-year pro forma; this page's metric is the year-one cash screen.
One metric never decides a deal
The full free calculator runs this metric alongside cash flow, cap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCR and an A–F score — no signup. DealQuanta Pro adds the 10-year pro forma with IRR, side-by-side comparison and client-ready PDF reports.