Cash-on-cash only tells part of the story. This calculator adds in loan paydown and appreciation over your holding period for a fuller picture of total return on your cash invested.
▶ Run the CalculatorOpens live in the Rental Flow app, no account needed.
Rental property returns come from three places: the cash flow you collect each year, the equity you build as the mortgage balance goes down, and any appreciation in the property's value. Total ROI adds all three together over your holding period and compares the sum to the cash you put in.
This is a multi-year total, not an annualized rate. It shows the full return over the whole holding period you enter.
| Cash invested | $40,000 |
| Annual cash flow | $2,264.29 |
| Principal paid down (5 yrs) | $10,222.44 |
| Appreciation (5 yrs at 3%) | $31,854.81 |
| Total ROI (5 years) | 133.50% |
That 133.50% is the total return over the full five years, not per year. It represents over $53,000 in combined cash flow, equity, and appreciation on a $40,000 investment.
Total ROI rolls cash flow, loan paydown, and appreciation into one number, so it is usually higher than cap rate or cash-on-cash alone. Many investors target an annualized total return in the low double digits, but the right benchmark is whatever beats your next best use of the same money after adjusting for risk and effort.
Because total ROI depends heavily on appreciation assumptions, treat it as a projection, not a promise. Run it with a conservative appreciation rate and again with an optimistic one, and make sure the deal still makes sense if values stay flat.