Rental Yield Calculator
Free rental yield calculator for landlords and property investors. Enter the property value, monthly rent, and annual expenses to see gross yield, net yield, and monthly cashflow.
Try the mobile app
Rental Yield Calc for Android — track multiple properties, compare scenarios, mortgage-adjusted ROI.
How to Use This Rental Yield Calculator
- Enter the property's market value (or purchase price if you're modelling a deal).
- Enter monthly rent and your full annual expense estimate — property tax, insurance, maintenance, management fees.
- Set a vacancy percent (5% means one month empty out of 20 — a realistic baseline).
How Rental Yield Is Calculated
Two yields matter for property investors. Gross yield is a quick screening number. Net yield is what you actually pocket.
effective rent = monthly rent × 12 × (1 − vacancy%)
net yield = (effective rent − annual expenses) ÷ property value
Monthly cashflow is the net annual income divided by 12 — a more intuitive number for landlords than the yield percentage.
Gross yield flatters — the net figure is the real one
Rental yield is annual rent as a percentage of the property's price, and the number people quote is almost always the gross one: rent ÷ price. It's a useful headline, but it ignores everything that eats into a landlord's return — management fees, weeks or months of vacancy between tenants, maintenance and repairs, insurance, and tax. Net yield, after those costs, is frequently a third to a half lower than the gross number. When you're deciding whether a property is worth it, weigh the net yield against what you'd earn elsewhere and against your mortgage rate — not the flattering gross figure.
Property came up constantly in my IT support years, because several colleagues were weighing up buy-to-let in some of the most expensive markets on earth. The pattern was always the same: someone would show me a listing and quote a gross yield that looked perfectly healthy, but they'd costed it as if rent arrived twelve months a year with no agent's fee and nothing ever breaking. Once you penciled in a couple of vacant months, management fees and a realistic repair budget, the net yield often landed somewhere far less exciting. The ones who ran the net number first made much calmer decisions than the ones who fell for the headline.
— Hill, 20 years in IT supportThis is an estimate for comparison, not investment advice. Run the net figure with realistic costs, and for an actual purchase talk to a qualified adviser.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good rental yield?
5–7% gross yield is typical in healthy markets. Above 8% may indicate higher risk or a less desirable area. London / Hong Kong / San Francisco often sit at 2–4% — investors there bet on capital growth, not yield.
What's the difference between gross and net yield?
Gross yield is annual rent ÷ property value — it ignores expenses. Net yield subtracts management fees, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, and tax — it's what actually lands in your bank account.
Should I include mortgage payments?
For yield calculations, no — yield measures the property's return on capital. To assess cashflow with a mortgage, subtract the annual mortgage payment from the net rental income and compare against your equity in the property.
Should I factor in capital growth too?
Yield only measures rental income. Total return also depends on whether the property's value rises or falls, which is far less predictable. Treat yield as the income side of the decision and consider capital growth separately — don't assume strong growth to justify a thin yield.