Property & Real Estate Calculators

There is no single “good” cap rate — it depends on location, property class and interest rates. Prime urban properties often trade at lower cap rates because they are seen as safer, while smaller or riskier markets offer higher cap rates to compensate. Compare a property’s cap rate with similar recent sales in the same area rather than with a national figure.

Cap rate divides NOI by the property’s value and ignores financing, so it compares properties on equal footing. Cash-on-cash return divides your annual cash flow after the mortgage by the cash you actually invested, so it reflects your leverage. A property with an average cap rate can still deliver a strong cash-on-cash return if it is financed well — or a weak one if rates are high.

Most US jurisdictions multiply the assessed (taxable) value of a property by the local tax rate, often expressed as a millage rate — $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value per mill. Exemptions such as a homestead exemption reduce the assessed value first. Because rates and assessment rules are set locally, check your county assessor’s figures for an exact bill.

A common guideline is to keep rent near 30% of gross monthly income, and many landlords require gross income of about 40 times the monthly rent. Those rules ignore debt payments and local costs, so a budget-based calculation that subtracts your other obligations gives a more realistic ceiling.

Buying tends to win the longer you stay, because upfront and selling costs are spread over more years while equity builds. Renting can win over short stays, in high price-to-rent markets, or when your down payment would earn more invested elsewhere. A rent vs buy calculator finds the break-even year for your specific numbers.

If you owned and lived in the home as your main residence for at least two of the five years before the sale, IRS Publication 523 lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 for most married couples filing jointly). Gain above the exclusion, and gain on investment property, is generally taxable at capital gains rates.

A 1031 like-kind exchange lets an investor defer capital gains tax by reinvesting sale proceeds from business or investment real estate into another qualifying property. You must identify replacement property within 45 days and close within 180 days, and any cash or debt reduction you receive (“boot”) is taxable.

Many DSCR lenders look for a ratio of roughly 1.20 to 1.25, meaning rental income covers the debt payment with a 20%–25% cushion. Some lenders will go to 1.0 or slightly below with a larger down payment or a higher rate. A DSCR calculator shows the minimum rent that hits each threshold.

Divide monthly rent by the number of days in that month to get a daily rate, then multiply by the days you occupy the unit. Some leases use a 365-day year (monthly rent × 12 ÷ 365) or a 30-day banker’s month instead, which produces slightly different amounts — your lease decides which method applies.

Under IRS Publication 527, residential rental buildings are depreciated over 27.5 years using the straight-line method; land is never depreciated. When you sell, the depreciation you claimed (or could have claimed) is generally subject to recapture tax, which is what the depreciation recapture calculator estimates.

Yes. Every calculator on DexoCalc is free, runs in your browser and needs no account. Your inputs are not sent to us or stored, so you can model private numbers such as income, loan balances and sale prices safely.

The math is exact; the uncertainty lives in the inputs. Estimates for rent, vacancy, repairs, appreciation and tax rates drive most of the difference between a calculator’s answer and reality. Use local data, run a pessimistic scenario, and treat results as planning estimates rather than tax, legal or lending advice.