Three Moments Where the Money Moves
“Real estate calculator” covers a lot of ground, but almost everyone typing it is standing at one of three moments: about to buy, about to sell, or weighing up a property to rent out. Each has a different number that decides whether the deal works, and each is easy to get badly wrong by looking at the headline price alone.
The tabs above handle all three. None of them needs a spreadsheet, and none of them is trying to sell you a mortgage on the way through.
Buying: the Cash You Actually Need
Buyers save for the down payment and are then surprised at closing. The down payment is the largest single item, but it is not the only one. Closing costs — lender fees, title work, appraisal, recording, escrow setup — typically add another 2% to 5% of the price, and the lender collects several months of property tax and insurance up front to seed the escrow account.
Renovation quantities are their own arithmetic. Our square footage calculator measures the area, and the concrete, gravel, mulch and tile calculators turn that area into materials.
On a $450,000 purchase with 20% down and 3% closing costs, the down payment is $90,000, closing costs are $13,500, and a few thousand of prepaid escrow takes the total past $107,000. Someone who budgeted only the $90,000 is nearly $17,000 short two weeks before completion, which is a bad time to discover it.
A seller credit reduces the cash you bring without changing the price or the loan, which is why it is often easier to negotiate than a price cut — the seller's headline number stays intact and your day-one cash requirement falls.
Selling: What Reaches Your Account
The sale price is not what you receive. Between the two sit the loan payoff and a stack of costs that, taken together, usually run 6% to 10% of the price. Sellers who plan around the price rather than the net are the ones who find their next down payment does not stretch as far as expected.
Larger jobs need their own figures: our roofing calculator works from pitch and area, the stair calculator sets rise and run to code, and the BTU calculator sizes heating and cooling for a room.
Take a $450,000 sale with $268,000 still owed, 5.5% commission, 1.5% in seller closing costs, a 0.5% transfer tax, $4,000 of buyer concessions and $2,500 of repair credits. Costs come to $40,250, and the net is $141,750 — against $182,000 of equity before anyone was paid. Roughly a fifth of the equity went to the cost of transacting.
Two items deserve attention because they vary more than the rest. Transfer tax is charged by some states and counties and not others; Pennsylvania and Delaware are expensive, Texas and Indiana charge nothing at state level, and who pays is set by local custom. The payoff figure is not your last statement balance — request an official payoff quote from the lender, since it includes interest to the closing date and any release fees.
It is entirely possible for this to come out negative. If you bought recently with a small down payment, costs of around 8% can exceed the equity you have built, and the shortfall has to be brought to closing in cash.
Commission After the 2024 Rule Change
For decades the working assumption was a 5% to 6% total commission, paid by the seller and split between the two agents. The National Association of Realtors settlement that took effect in August 2024 changed the mechanics: buyer-agent compensation can no longer be advertised on the MLS, buyers sign written agreements with their own agents, and anything the seller contributes to the buyer's side is negotiated in the purchase agreement instead.
In practice, national averages through 2026 have sat closer to 5.5% where the seller still pays both sides, with plenty of variation either way. The number in the calculator defaults there rather than to the old 6%, but it is an input for a reason. Ask what your listing agent's fee covers, and treat any buyer-side contribution as a separate negotiating decision rather than a fixed cost.
Renting It Out: Cap Rate and Cash-on-Cash
The third tab looks at a property as an income stream. Two figures do most of the work, and they answer different questions.
Cash-on-cash = annual cash flow ÷ cash invested
Cap rate ignores financing entirely. Net operating income is rent less vacancy less operating expenses, and dividing it by the price gives you a number that describes the building, not the deal. That makes it the right tool for comparing two properties, since a cash buyer and a heavily leveraged buyer see the same cap rate on the same building.
Cash-on-cash does the opposite. It takes what is left after the mortgage and divides by the money you actually put in, so it describes your position. The same property can look solid on cap rate and thin on cash-on-cash once a loan at today's rates is layered on — which is exactly what the worked example above shows, with a 5.96% cap rate collapsing to well under 1% cash-on-cash after debt service.
Two supporting numbers are worth watching. DSCR, net operating income divided by annual loan payments, tells you whether the property covers its own mortgage; lenders on investment property often want 1.20 or better. The rent-to-price ratio, sometimes called the 1% rule, is a rough screen rather than a law — useful for discarding obvious non-starters, not for making a decision.
Operating expenses are where optimistic projections usually break. Property tax, insurance, maintenance, management, and reserves for the roof and the boiler all belong in the figure, and a property that has been owner-occupied often has had none of them properly accounted for.
What This Calculator Does Not Cover
- Income tax. Rental income is taxable, but depreciation, interest and expenses are generally deductible. On a sale, the main-home capital gains exclusion helps many owners while investment property can face gains tax plus depreciation recapture.
- Appreciation and loan paydown. The investment tab is a one-year snapshot. Equity built through principal payments and price growth is real return that does not appear in cash flow.
- Local variation. Transfer taxes, who customarily pays title insurance, and attorney involvement all differ by state and sometimes by county.
- Mortgage insurance. Below 20% down, PMI or an FHA premium adds to the monthly cost. Our FHA loan calculator handles that case.
- The monthly payment itself. For a full payment breakdown and amortization schedule, use the mortgage calculator.
Which Calculator You Actually Need
Real estate questions fan out quickly, and a general tool is the wrong place for several of them:
- How much house can I afford? The house affordability calculator works from income and existing debt.
- A full rental projection over the hold period. The rental property calculator goes further than the one-year snapshot here.
- Should I rent or buy? Try the rent vs buy calculator.
- Paying the mortgage off early. The mortgage payoff calculator models extra payments.
- Refinancing. The refinance calculator compares the cost of the new loan against the saving.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much cash do I need to close on a house?
Add the down payment, the closing costs and the prepaid taxes and insurance the lender collects up front, then subtract anything the seller has agreed to credit you. On a $450,000 purchase with 20% down and 3% closing costs, that is $90,000 plus $13,500 plus a few thousand of escrow, so a little over $107,000. The down payment is the largest piece but it is rarely the only one, and buyers who budget for it alone are often caught short.
What percentage do sellers pay in closing costs?
Excluding the loan payoff, sellers commonly hand over 6% to 10% of the sale price. Agent commission is the biggest slice, then title and escrow fees, transfer taxes where the state or county charges them, and anything conceded to the buyer during negotiation. Transfer tax is the piece that varies most: some states charge nothing, others take well over 1%.
Is the real estate agent commission still 6%?
No, and treating it as fixed is now a mistake. The 2024 National Association of Realtors settlement stopped buyer-agent compensation being advertised on the MLS and made it something negotiated in the purchase agreement instead. National averages in 2026 sit closer to 5.5% when a seller pays both sides, and plenty of sellers pay less. Ask your listing agent what their fee covers and what, if anything, you are offering the buyer's side.
What is a good cap rate?
It depends entirely on the market and the risk. Stable metro areas often trade in the 4% to 6% range, while properties in less certain markets or in worse condition need higher rates to be worth owning. Cap rate deliberately ignores financing, which makes it useful for comparing two buildings but useless for judging what a particular deal does for you. That is what cash-on-cash return is for.
What is the difference between cap rate and cash-on-cash return?
Cap rate divides net operating income by the purchase price and ignores any loan, so it describes the property. Cash-on-cash divides the cash left after the mortgage by the cash you actually put in, so it describes your position in the deal. The same building can show a 6% cap rate and anything from a negative to a double-digit cash-on-cash depending on how it is financed.
Can I end up owing money at closing when I sell?
Yes. If the price does not cover the loan payoff plus the selling costs, the shortfall has to come from you at closing. It happens most often to owners who bought recently with a small down payment, since costs of roughly 8% can outweigh the equity built in the first couple of years. Enter your figures above and a negative result means exactly this.
What is DSCR and why does it matter?
Debt service coverage ratio is net operating income divided by annual loan payments. Above 1.0 means the property covers its own mortgage; below it, you are topping the loan up from elsewhere. Lenders on investment property often want to see 1.20 or better, so it is worth checking before you rely on a pre-approval that assumed something more comfortable.
Do these figures include income tax?
No, and that cuts both ways. Rental income is taxable, but depreciation, mortgage interest and operating expenses are generally deductible, which often makes the after-tax picture better than the cash-flow figure suggests. On a sale, the capital gains exclusion for a main home is substantial for many owners, while investment property may face gains tax plus depreciation recapture. Both deserve an accountant rather than a calculator.
Disclaimer. This calculator produces estimates for general information only and is not financial, tax or legal advice. Closing costs, transfer taxes and commission practice vary widely by state, county and negotiation, and the figures here are pre-tax. Your lender, agent and closing agent will give you the numbers that actually apply. Learn more about CalculatorBoss and our privacy policy.