Hold-period returns

Real Estate Investment Calculator

Project an investment property over a full hold period using rent growth, appreciation, financing, and exit assumptions.

Your numbers

Property

Purchase price$Closing costs$Upfront repairs$

Income

Year 1 gross rent$Expected first-year gross rent.

Expenses

Year 1 operating expenses$Year 1 expenses before debt service.Vacancy rate%BiggerPockets recommends 8–10% as conservative.

Financing

Down payment%= $75,000 cashInterest rate%Loan term yrs

Long-term assumptions

Hold period yrsAnnual appreciation%

Overview

What is a real estate investment calculator?

A real estate investment calculator, also called an investment property calculator, projects a property's total profit, annualized ROI, equity multiple, and sale proceeds over a multi-year hold using rent growth, expense growth, appreciation, financing, and selling costs.

What your scenario is telling you

Profitable hold

Projected total profit is $59,237 over 7 years.

Moderate annualized ROI

Annualized ROI of 7.6% is positive but in the range that often loses to public REIT or index alternatives. Consider tweaking growth or financing.

Healthy equity multiple

Equity multiple of 1.67x means you get back about $1.67 for every $1 invested across the hold period.

Cash flow, equity, and ROI over time

Year	Gross income	Op. expenses	NOI	Cash flow	Property value	Loan balance	Equity	Cum. ROI
1	$30,000	$10,500	$17,100	-$863	$309,000	$222,714	$86,286	-24.9%
2	$30,900	$10,762	$17,666	-$298	$318,270	$220,264	$98,006	-12.6%
3	$31,827	$11,032	$18,249	$286	$327,818	$217,636	$110,182	0.7%
4	$32,782	$11,307	$18,852	$889	$337,653	$214,818	$122,835	15.3%
5	$33,765	$11,590	$19,474	$1,511	$347,782	$211,796	$135,986	31.1%
6	$34,778	$11,880	$20,116	$2,153	$358,216	$208,556	$149,660	48.1%
7	$35,822	$12,177	$20,779	$2,816	$368,962	$205,082	$163,880	66.6%
8	$36,896	$12,481	$21,463	$3,500	$380,031	$201,356	$178,675	86.4%
9	$38,003	$12,793	$22,170	$4,206	$391,432	$197,361	$194,071	107.6%
10	$39,143	$13,113	$22,899	$4,936	$403,175	$193,078	$210,097	130.4%
11	$40,317	$13,441	$23,651	$5,688	$415,270	$188,485	$226,786	154.7%
12	$41,527	$13,777	$24,428	$6,465	$427,728	$183,559	$244,169	180.7%

How investors usually read these numbers

Metric	Often strong	Watch out	Why it matters
Annualized ROI	8% to 12%+	Below 5%	Turns a multi-year projection into an annual return estimate that can be compared to other investments.
Equity multiple	1.5x+ over 5 years, 1.8x+ over 7 years	Below 1.2x	Shows how many dollars come back for every dollar invested across the full hold.
Average annual cash flow	Positive and growing	Negative without a clear appreciation thesis	Separates ongoing rental income from one-time sale profit.
Sale proceeds	Cover loan payoff with surplus	Mostly dependent on appreciation	Highlights how sensitive total profit is to future value and selling costs.

How to run a real estate investment analysis

1
Enter property and rehab
Add purchase price, closing costs, and any rehab or make-ready costs that come out of pocket.
2
Estimate year-1 income and expenses
Use comps to set year-one gross rent and operating expenses. Vacancy rate is applied automatically.
3
Set financing terms
Choose a down payment, rate, and loan term. The calculator estimates a fixed-rate amortizing mortgage.
4
Add growth and appreciation
Pick reasonable rent growth, expense growth, and appreciation rates. A common starting point is 3% / 2.5% / 3%.
5
Choose a hold period and exit
Pick how many years before you sell, then set selling costs as a percent of sale price.
6
Read total profit, ROI, and equity multiple
Review total profit, annualized ROI, equity multiple, total cash flow, and the year-by-year projection table.

The math behind the result

Core formulas

Annual cash flow = effective rent - operating expenses - annual mortgage payments.
Future property value = purchase price x (1 + appreciation)^hold years.
Sale proceeds = future value - selling costs - remaining loan balance.
Total profit = cumulative cash flow + sale proceeds - cash invested.
Annualized ROI converts total return into a yearly rate using ((1 + total return)^(1/years)) - 1.
Equity multiple = (cash invested + total profit) / cash invested.

Expert takeaways

Long-hold returns are usually a mix of cash flow, rent growth, amortization, and appreciation. Most of the return on a 7- to 10-year hold is appreciation plus loan paydown.
Total ROI looks impressive over long periods. Annualized ROI is a fairer comparison with stocks, REITs, or fractional rentals.
Exit assumptions matter. Selling costs of 6% to 8% and the remaining loan balance can swing total profit dramatically.
Equity multiple is intuitive: a 1.7x multiple means you got back $1.70 for every $1 invested across the entire hold.

Key terms in plain English

Total ROI: Total profit / cash invested.; Total ROI is the entire profit on a deal divided by the cash you invested up front. It does not annualize, so it can look impressive on a long hold even if the yearly return is modest.
Annualized ROI: Yearly equivalent of total ROI.; Annualized ROI converts total return into a yearly compounding rate. It is the right number to use when comparing real estate to stocks, REITs, or fractional rentals.
Equity multiple: Total dollars back per dollar in.; Equity multiple equals total dollars returned (cash invested plus total profit) divided by cash invested. A 2.0x multiple means you doubled your money over the hold period.
Sale proceeds: Net cash from selling.; Sale proceeds equal projected future value minus selling costs minus the remaining mortgage balance. They make up most of the total profit on a typical 5- to 10-year hold.
IRR: Time-weighted annual return.; Internal rate of return is the discount rate that makes the net present value of a deal's cash flows zero. It is more accurate than annualized ROI when cash flows are uneven, and is the institutional standard for evaluating real estate deals.

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What your scenario is telling you

Profitable hold

Projected total profit is $59,237 over 7 years.

Moderate annualized ROI

Annualized ROI of 7.6% is positive but in the range that often loses to public REIT or index alternatives. Consider tweaking growth or financing.

Healthy equity multiple

Equity multiple of 1.67x means you get back about $1.67 for every $1 invested across the hold period.

Cash flow, equity, and ROI over time

Year	Gross income	Op. expenses	NOI	Cash flow	Property value	Loan balance	Equity	Cum. ROI
1	$30,000	$10,500	$17,100	-$863	$309,000	$222,714	$86,286	-24.9%
2	$30,900	$10,762	$17,666	-$298	$318,270	$220,264	$98,006	-12.6%
3	$31,827	$11,032	$18,249	$286	$327,818	$217,636	$110,182	0.7%
4	$32,782	$11,307	$18,852	$889	$337,653	$214,818	$122,835	15.3%
5	$33,765	$11,590	$19,474	$1,511	$347,782	$211,796	$135,986	31.1%
6	$34,778	$11,880	$20,116	$2,153	$358,216	$208,556	$149,660	48.1%
7	$35,822	$12,177	$20,779	$2,816	$368,962	$205,082	$163,880	66.6%
8	$36,896	$12,481	$21,463	$3,500	$380,031	$201,356	$178,675	86.4%
9	$38,003	$12,793	$22,170	$4,206	$391,432	$197,361	$194,071	107.6%
10	$39,143	$13,113	$22,899	$4,936	$403,175	$193,078	$210,097	130.4%
11	$40,317	$13,441	$23,651	$5,688	$415,270	$188,485	$226,786	154.7%
12	$41,527	$13,777	$24,428	$6,465	$427,728	$183,559	$244,169	180.7%

How investors usually read these numbers

Metric	Often strong	Watch out	Why it matters
Annualized ROI	8% to 12%+	Below 5%	Turns a multi-year projection into an annual return estimate that can be compared to other investments.
Equity multiple	1.5x+ over 5 years, 1.8x+ over 7 years	Below 1.2x	Shows how many dollars come back for every dollar invested across the full hold.
Average annual cash flow	Positive and growing	Negative without a clear appreciation thesis	Separates ongoing rental income from one-time sale profit.
Sale proceeds	Cover loan payoff with surplus	Mostly dependent on appreciation	Highlights how sensitive total profit is to future value and selling costs.

How to run a real estate investment analysis

Enter property and rehab

Add purchase price, closing costs, and any rehab or make-ready costs that come out of pocket.

Estimate year-1 income and expenses

Use comps to set year-one gross rent and operating expenses. Vacancy rate is applied automatically.

Set financing terms

Choose a down payment, rate, and loan term. The calculator estimates a fixed-rate amortizing mortgage.

Add growth and appreciation

Pick reasonable rent growth, expense growth, and appreciation rates. A common starting point is 3% / 2.5% / 3%.

Choose a hold period and exit

Pick how many years before you sell, then set selling costs as a percent of sale price.

Read total profit, ROI, and equity multiple

Review total profit, annualized ROI, equity multiple, total cash flow, and the year-by-year projection table.

The math behind the result

Core formulas

Annual cash flow = effective rent - operating expenses - annual mortgage payments.
Future property value = purchase price x (1 + appreciation)^hold years.
Sale proceeds = future value - selling costs - remaining loan balance.
Total profit = cumulative cash flow + sale proceeds - cash invested.
Annualized ROI converts total return into a yearly rate using ((1 + total return)^(1/years)) - 1.
Equity multiple = (cash invested + total profit) / cash invested.

Expert takeaways

Long-hold returns are usually a mix of cash flow, rent growth, amortization, and appreciation. Most of the return on a 7- to 10-year hold is appreciation plus loan paydown.
Total ROI looks impressive over long periods. Annualized ROI is a fairer comparison with stocks, REITs, or fractional rentals.
Exit assumptions matter. Selling costs of 6% to 8% and the remaining loan balance can swing total profit dramatically.
Equity multiple is intuitive: a 1.7x multiple means you got back $1.70 for every $1 invested across the entire hold.

Key terms in plain English

Total ROI

Total profit / cash invested.

Total ROI is the entire profit on a deal divided by the cash you invested up front. It does not annualize, so it can look impressive on a long hold even if the yearly return is modest.

Annualized ROI

Yearly equivalent of total ROI.

Annualized ROI converts total return into a yearly compounding rate. It is the right number to use when comparing real estate to stocks, REITs, or fractional rentals.

Equity multiple

Total dollars back per dollar in.

Equity multiple equals total dollars returned (cash invested plus total profit) divided by cash invested. A 2.0x multiple means you doubled your money over the hold period.

Sale proceeds

Net cash from selling.

Sale proceeds equal projected future value minus selling costs minus the remaining mortgage balance. They make up most of the total profit on a typical 5- to 10-year hold.

IRR

Time-weighted annual return.

Internal rate of return is the discount rate that makes the net present value of a deal's cash flows zero. It is more accurate than annualized ROI when cash flows are uneven, and is the institutional standard for evaluating real estate deals.

About Lofty

Real Estate Investment Calculator

Your numbers

What is a real estate investment calculator?

What your scenario is telling you

Profitable hold

Moderate annualized ROI

Healthy equity multiple

Cash flow, equity, and ROI over time

How investors usually read these numbers

How to run a real estate investment analysis

Enter property and rehab

Estimate year-1 income and expenses

Set financing terms

Add growth and appreciation

Choose a hold period and exit

Read total profit, ROI, and equity multiple

The math behind the result

Core formulas

Expert takeaways

Key terms in plain English

People also ask

Want real estate exposure without buying the whole property?

Related real estate calculators

Rental Property Calculator

Mortgage Calculator

Airbnb Calculator

Real Estate Investment Calculator

Your numbers

What is a real estate investment calculator?

What your scenario is telling you

Profitable hold

Moderate annualized ROI

Healthy equity multiple

Cash flow, equity, and ROI over time

How investors usually read these numbers

How to run a real estate investment analysis

Enter property and rehab

Estimate year-1 income and expenses

Set financing terms

Add growth and appreciation

Choose a hold period and exit

Read total profit, ROI, and equity multiple

The math behind the result

Core formulas

Expert takeaways

Key terms in plain English

People also ask

Want real estate exposure without buying the whole property?

Related real estate calculators

Rental Property Calculator

Mortgage Calculator

Airbnb Calculator