Every property investor worth their weight in salt has a tried and trusty spreadsheet for calculating rental yields. But, chances are the one you are using doesn’t calculate four different yields, and doesn’t look as pretty as this one. So if you want the best rental yield calculator use ours – it is part of our Stage 2 Masterclass. Read on to learn about Gross Yield, Net Yield, Cash Yield and Mortgage Coverage. Otherwise jump over to this page to learn about and use mortgage calculators, including repayment calculator and home loan borrowing power calculators.
To access our mortgagehq rental yield calculator and learn more about investing you need to purchase and attend our Stage 2 Masterclass: Everything you need to know to build your first $80,000 passive income through properties within 10 years. ($17 includes a 1-hour masterclass, slide deck and yield calculator).
What is yield?
Yield is a way of expressing the return of your investment as a percentage. For property investors, it is typically annualised income as a percentage of the purchase price. We like to use four different yield calculations and combine them with capital growth to get a total return figure.
What is Gross Yield?
It is the percentage return from your property investment without including costs. You calculate it by dividing the annual income (we have assumed a 2% vacancy rate) by your purchase price. For example
Annual Income: $28,028
Purchase price: $420,000
$28,028 / $420,000 = 6.8% gross yield
Annual rent / purchase price = gross yield
What is Net Yield
It is calculated after ownership costs but before mortgage costs. So instead of your gross income, you subtract operating costs to calculate your net income and use this to calculate net yield. For example
Purchase price: $420,000
Annual Income: $28,028
less expenses
Insurance: $1,200
Management: $1,962
Rates: $1,442
Maintenaince: $2,000
= Net income: $21,424
$21,424 / $420,000 = 5.1% Net Yield
Net income / purchase price = net yield
What is Cash Yield?
It is calculated by using cash flows, so you divide rental cash profit (income – expenses including mortgage payments), by cash deposit paid. This calculates your cash return. Useful for comparing to other investments, for example putting that cash in the bank, or into shares. For our example, we use a 30-year principal + interest mortgage, at an interest rate of 4%.
Purchase price: $420,000
Deposit: $126,000 (30%)
Annual Income: $28,028
less expenses
Mortgage: $17,150
Insurance: $1,200
Management: $1,962
Rates: $1,442
Maintenaince: $2,000
= Cashflow: $4,274
$4,274 / $126,000 = 3.4% Cash Yield
Cashflow / deposit = cash yield
What is Mortgage Coverage?
It is a mortgagehq in-house term (coined by Blandon Leung our Director and Senior Mortgage Adviser), which is used to understand how mortgage interest rate fluctuations will affect your portfolio. It is calculated by taking your annual rental and dividing it by your mortgage amount. This gives you a percentage value – if mortgage interest rates are under this amount your property investment rental income covers your mortgage interest.
Purchase price: $420,000
Deposit: $126,000
Mortgage: $294,000
Annual Income: $28,028
$28,028 / $294,000 = 0.095 then 0.095 * 100 = 9.5% mortgage coverage
Annual rental / total mortgage = mortgage coverage
Adding Capital Return to Yield Calculations
Capital Growth is typically presented as an annual percentage of house value increase in a specific area. For you to compare one investment to another you can combine your net yield analysis with your capital growth expectations to calculate a total return. Net Yield + Capital Growth = Total Return. This total return number lets you compare investments in high cash but low capital growth areas with low cash but high capital growth areas (for example block of flats in Manurewa vs duplex units in Remuera.
Capital growth 5%
Net yield 5.1%
5% + 5.1% = 10.1% total return
capital growth + net yield = total return
When Investing in Property how do I use the rental yield calculations to inform my decisions?
Comparing investment properties with yields:
To compare one investment property with another we suggest using total return. This encompasses your capital growth and income.
Cashflow calculations/ affordability:
To check you can afford your property and what effect it will have on your cash flow – use the cash yield
Minimum net yield as a property investment buying rule:
A lot of property investors will have a property investment rule that they don’t purchase a property with a net yield of less than a fixed yield, for example, 6%. It is prudent to use financial rules to guide your decision-making process – as investing is a financial exercise as opposed to an emotional one. Whereas buying a new home for your family is largely an emotional decision, and secondarily you need to factor in if you can afford it.