Underwrite
Is this rental property a good deal? Run your screens
"Good deal" is your rules, not a blog's. This page is a checklist calculator: enter price, rent, rough expenses or 50% shortcut, and loan assumptions; see pass/fail against hurdles you set (1% or 2% rent screen, minimum cash flow, minimum CoC). Green lights mean "underwrite deeper," not "wire the deposit."
Assumptions
Returns stack
- Rent / price
- —
- Monthly CF
- —
- Cash-on-cash
- —
- Screens
- Rent✗ CF✗ CoC✗
When to use
Triaging 20 Zillow tabs; aligning partners on buy boxes; killing shiny-object purchases before weekend open houses.
When not to
Your hurdles are not universal truth. Passing screens is not appraisal, inspection, or loan approval.
Assumptions: Stack of screens: rent ratio, optional 50% OpEx shortcut, cash flow vs minimum, CoC vs minimum. Overall pass only if all enabled hurdles clear. Garbage inputs produce garbage badges.
Worked examples
Input
Clears 1% + CF ≥ $200 + CoC ≥ 8%
Output
Pass screen
All enabled hurdles clear - still need inspection and real OpEx.
Input
Clears 1% but CF negative
Output
Fail
Rent screen is not enough when debt and expenses eat the stack.
Common traps
- Your hurdles are not universal truth.
- Passing screens is not appraisal, inspection, or loan approval.
- Garbage rent/expense inputs produce garbage pass badges.