Instant Cap Rate Analysis
Enter any property's purchase price, rent, and expenses to instantly calculate cap rate, NOI, and how your deal compares to the national average of 6% and your specific city's market benchmark. Our cap rate calculator uses the industry-standard formula: NOI ÷ Purchase Price × 100.
BRRRR Stress Test
Analyze your Buy-Rehab-Rent-Refinance-Repeat deal from purchase through cash-out refi. Model ARV, rehab costs, stabilized rents, and refinance proceeds to determine your equity capture and whether the deal recycles your capital for the next acquisition.
Rental Property ROI Calculator
Calculate real cash-on-cash return accounting for actual cash invested — down payment, closing costs, and rehab. Unlike gross yield calculators, this tool models vacancy loss, operating expense ratio, debt service, and gives you pre-tax annual cash flow as your true return on invested capital.
Multi-Unit Portfolio Health Score
For duplexes, triplexes, small apartments, and larger multi-family properties, the Pulse Stack aggregates income across all units, applies per-unit cash flow analysis, and scores the portfolio against DSCR requirements typical of multi-family lenders (1.25x minimum).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Real Estate Pulse Stack deal health score?
The Deal Health Score is a 0–100 composite rating that grades an investment property across cap rate performance, cash-on-cash return, monthly cash flow per unit, debt service coverage ratio (DSCR), and profit margin (for flips). A score of 80+ earns an A grade (excellent), 60–79 is a B (good), 50–59 is a C+ (fair), and below 40 is a D or F. The score adjusts based on your specific strategy — rental hold, BRRRR, flip, wholesale, or commercial.
How is cap rate calculated for a rental property?
Cap rate = Net Operating Income (NOI) ÷ Purchase Price × 100. NOI = Effective Gross Rent − Operating Expenses. Effective Gross Rent = Annual Gross Rent − Vacancy Loss. A 6% cap rate is the national average. Cap rates above 8% indicate strong income potential; below 4% suggests the price is high relative to income.
What is a good cash-on-cash return for real estate?
A cash-on-cash return of 8–12% is considered strong for most US markets in 2026. CoC = Annual Pre-Tax Cash Flow ÷ Total Cash Invested × 100. Cash invested includes down payment, closing costs (~2.5%), and any rehab costs. In high-appreciation markets like Austin or Seattle, investors may accept 4–6% CoC in exchange for equity growth.
What does DSCR mean for real estate investors?
DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) = NOI ÷ Annual Debt Service. A DSCR of 1.0 means income exactly covers your mortgage. Lenders typically require 1.25+ for investment property loans. DSCR below 1.0 means the property loses money before personal expenses. DSCR above 1.5 indicates strong cash flow cushion.
How do I calculate the Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) for a flip?
MAO = (ARV × 0.70) − Repair Costs. ARV is the After Repair Value — what the property will be worth once renovated. The 70% factor preserves a 30% margin that covers agent commissions (~6%), holding costs (~4–6%), closing costs (~3%), contingency (~5%), and target profit (~10%). If your purchase price exceeds MAO, reconsider the deal unless you have a strong appreciation thesis.
What is the BRRRR strategy in real estate?
BRRRR stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. You buy a distressed property below market value, renovate it, rent it out to stabilize income, then do a cash-out refinance based on the new appraised value to pull out your original capital — then repeat with the next deal. A successful BRRRR deal recovers 80–100% of invested capital while retaining the rental property.
What expense ratio should I use for rental properties?
Use 35–45% for single-family rentals without property management. Add 8–12% for professional property management, bringing it to 45–55%. Multi-family properties typically run 40–50% including management. The expense ratio covers taxes, insurance, maintenance (1–2% of value), repairs, and CapEx reserves. Never model below 30% — it overstates cash flow and creates a false picture.
How does the scenario stress test work?
The Pulse Stack stress test models three scenarios side-by-side. Base Case uses your inputs as-entered. Rates +1% increases your mortgage rate by 1 percentage point and recalculates monthly cash flow with the higher payment. Vacancy +5% adds 5 percentage points to your vacancy rate, reducing effective gross income and NOI. These scenarios show how fragile or resilient your deal is to common real-world shocks.