Three Ways Our
Investment Property Calculator
Will Make You the MacGyver of Real Estate Investing
Secret agent Angus McGyver had his trusty Swiss Army knife, but you’ll be able to solve your way out of the three most common real estate investment mistakes with our new investment property calculator.
Our Investment Property ROI Calculator is the first and only calculator with automated data updates, like price, rent, insurance premiums, management fee estimates, and more - and you’ll only find it here on HowManyDoors.
For as many investment property options as there are, there are likely to be as many different ways of calculating the return on your investment. But what bothered me most about investment property calculation methods is not how many there are, but that I found them to be either way too complex or too simplified.
When it comes to rental property investments, the only objective is to calculate the potential to create cash flow and to measure said investments against only that criteria. It’s critical that you understand how you can get a return on your investment, and it requires a realistic and inclusive view on income and expenses. When I was getting my start in investment property, I got so frustrated trying to pull together accurate data - double checking my calculations on various websites and calling for quotes from insurance companies, etc. - that I decided to create my own calculator so I could do it myself.
Armed with a better way to calculate the return on investment (ROI) for a property, I can “MacGyver” my way around three of the most common mistakes investors make (no dental floss required):
- Getting rental rates incorrect: This is a frequent mistake with turnkey rehab homes, where the first year’s rents are guaranteed, and with new builds.
- No consideration for the vacancy rate: At some point your property will be unoccupied, and you have to include that in your calculation.
- Not enough and inaccurate data: Without a tool like our investment property calculator, which has real-time feeds of industry data, it’s easy to miss things like property management fees or repair and maintenance funds. And if you skimp on your research, you might be missing the whole picture on income and expense data from the many databases you can consult.
Being a “dummie” is optional
Our investment property calculator can tell you a lot, but do you really have a grasp on real estate investment know-how? Read six quick, FREE How-To articles and learn the basics in under 45 minutes. Start the first How-To now
Cash flow-producing, turnkey investment property
Take a virtual tour of a turnkey rental property that’s professionally managed and already producing cash flow - a great option for beginners (and pros alike) who want to get into real estate investing. You’ll find more available on our site
We’re not in Kansas anymore!
Sometimes the best investment property opportunities are in another state. Don’t let that stop you - use our handy guide on the ins and outs of buying properties out of state.
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We created an investment property calculator to address each of these mistakes.
Meet the HowManyDoors
Investment Property ROI Calculator
What makes the HowManyDoors calculator MacGyver-worthy, you ask? In the age of apps and cloud services, the best investment property calculator should give you:
- an estimated price for the property, and
- what the rent should be, and
- estimate your average expenses…
- with just an address and ZIP code and
- allow you to adjust the calculations
And the HowManyDoors
Investment Property ROI Calculator
does all that, and more. Here’s how:
- It’s the first and only calculator with automated data updates: We engineered real-time data feeds for such information as price, rent, insurance, property management fee estimates, and more.
- Its super fast - like, really fast: Enter a street address and ZIP code, and in under five seconds you’ll get an estimated return.
- It calculates the cap rate: The cap rate is the industry gold standard for measuring return on investment for properties (read up on measuring ROI, cap rates and cash on cash, here)
- It’s adjustable: Once you get a calculation, you can still make adjustments based on your preferences for estimating income and expenses. Our tool lets you edit and input actual data from your own research.
- It’s visual: Numbers don’t always paint a picture or help you make a comparison. With our tool, the Cap Rate Meter gives you a view on whether your return is any good.
- It calculates your offer price: Wondering what you should offer? You’ll be a smarter negotiator once you get the income and expense data as accurate as possible. You can even tweak the offer price until you see the ROI you want for your hard-earned cash and use that figure.
The key to success with property investment is to be as accurate as possible on these inputs for your ROI calculation. Even MacGyver had to start somewhere. Read our real-world tips on getting true income and expense data and if you haven’t covered the basics of real estate investment, get started with Real Estate Basics on HowManyDoors. But, for instant inspiration, click here to take our investment property ROI calculator for a test spin!
Check out these articles for in-depth discussions on topics related to our investment property calculator: