Real estate IRR calculator
Enter the property the way you actually know it - monthly rent, growth, vacancy, running costs - and it builds the year-by-year cash flows, projects the sale, and solves the levered IRR. With the inflation-adjusted answer, because a 15% IRR means less in a 10% inflation world.
Why does the same deal show different IRRs on different calculators?
Almost never because the IRR arithmetic differs - the solver is standard. It is the cash-flow model underneath: whether rent grows, whether expenses grow, whether the sale price is projected or typed in flat, whether vacancy is applied. A calculator that grows rent at 2% and appreciates the property at 3% will report a visibly higher IRR than one fed flat numbers, on identical assumptions about the world. This page shows its model openly in the year-by-year table below the result, so you can check every line rather than trust a black box.
What is honestly uncertain here?
Every growth rate you enter is a guess about the future. The appreciation figure dominates long-hold results - at a 10-year hold, most of the return in the default example arrives with the sale. Run it with appreciation at 0% and at your hopeful number, and treat the truth as somewhere in between. Expense growth defaults to 2% here rather than the flat-forever assumption some tools use, because insurance and maintenance bills do not stay still for a decade. And the IRR is levered: it is the return on your down payment with the bank's money amplifying both directions - the same inputs with a smaller deposit produce a higher IRR and a riskier deal at the same time.
How does this relate to the NPV & IRR calculator?
The NPV & IRR calculator takes cash flows you already know and solves them - maximum control, more work. This page builds the flows for you from rental assumptions. Same solver, same honesty about year-end timing; if your deal has irregular flows this cannot express, enter them there directly.
For general information and education only. This page shows the mathematics of the numbers you enter - it does not know your circumstances, tax position, or appetite for risk, and nothing here is financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. For decisions that matter, check the figures against your own documents and talk them through with a qualified adviser.
Common questions
What is a good IRR for a rental property?
There is no universal number. Levered rental investors often target low-to-mid teens, but the same deal shows a higher IRR with a smaller deposit and more risk. Compare against what the equity could earn elsewhere at similar risk, and look at the real (after-inflation) figure this page shows alongside the nominal one.
Why do different calculators show different IRRs for the same property?
Almost always the cash-flow model, not the IRR arithmetic: whether rent grows, whether expenses grow, whether the sale price is projected or typed flat, and whether vacancy applies. This page prints its full year-by-year model under the result so every line can be checked.
What is the difference between levered and unlevered IRR?
Unlevered IRR treats the purchase as if paid entirely in cash, measuring the return on the whole property. Levered IRR measures the return on just your equity, after the mortgage is factored in - it is usually higher than unlevered IRR because the loan lets a smaller amount of your own money capture the same dollar gains, but that also means more risk sits on that smaller equity base.
What is equity multiple, and how does it differ from IRR?
Equity multiple is total cash returned divided by total equity invested - a 2.0x multiple means you got back double what you put in, with no regard for how long it took. IRR rewards getting that money back sooner; equity multiple only counts how much came back in total. A deal can have a high IRR with a modest multiple, or the reverse, so serious investors check both.
Does this account for taxes or depreciation benefits?
No - this models the cash flows before tax. Depreciation deductions, capital gains tax on sale, and other tax treatment vary by country and personal situation, and can materially change the after-tax return. Treat the IRR shown here as the pre-tax mechanical answer, and apply your own tax position on top of it.