NovRental Break-even
Estimate gross and net income, yield and break-even from rent. An indicative scenario, not a guaranteed return.
This is an indicative scenario calculated from your inputs — not a price quote, offer, guaranteed return, or legal/tax advice. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere; it stays in your browser. Unconfirmed fees, taxes and terms remain unknown and must be confirmed for a specific project.
Support the rent with transactions, not one listing
An active asking price records the owner's expectation, not the amount a tenant has agreed to pay. Build the base case from recent signed leases for comparable units, anonymised management reports or the selected unit's evidenced rental history. Match layout, furnishing condition, floor, view, lease term and included services.
RICS defines market rent at a stated valuation date as the amount agreed between informed, willing parties after proper marketing. Where only listings are available, retain the sample date and range and apply a separately disclosed adjustment, but do not label the result as achieved rent.
Confirm the numbers for a real project
Send us the project and we will confirm current prices, fees and terms — the calculator does not have live data.
Model vacancy around lease events
The same annual occupancy percentage can conceal different risks. Model the period from key release to the first tenant, ordinary paid months, collection delay, the gap between leases and days required for cleaning or repairs. Some owner costs continue even when no rent is collected.
RICS says rent-free and void periods are normally stated explicitly in a cash flow and warns against assuming every tenant will either remain or leave without evidence. A new building, an occupied comparable and a unit with an active lease therefore require different vacancy assumptions.
Keep property performance separate from financing
Net operating income is calculated before loan payments and describes the operation of the apartment. Owner cash flow after financing additionally includes interest, debt repayment and bank charges. Return on total property cost and return on the buyer's equity can therefore be materially different.
RICS allows IRR to be assessed both gross and net of finance costs but requires the basis to be clear. The calculator needs separate unlevered and post-financing views; principal repayment should not be presented as an operating cost of the property.
Create a replacement reserve, not only a repair line
Routine maintenance and major replacement occur on different cycles. Air conditioners, washing machines, mattresses, curtains, repainting and furniture may create a large cost in one year after several quiet years. Recording the cost only when it occurs overstates the net income of the earlier years.
For each major category, record the expected useful period, replacement cost at the calculation date and the amount reserved each year. Display both the actual cash flow for the selected year and a normalised result after the reserve: one tests liquidity and the other supports comparison between units of different ages and specifications.
Enter taxes as separate, verifiable lines
Use the actual annual property-tax amount calculated under current GDT rules for the identified property. Do not model it as 0.1% of the SPA price: the official base refers to assessed land and building value and the applicable deduction. Until the amount is confirmed, leave the line unknown or use a disclosed range rather than a false point estimate.
The tax treatment of rental income depends on the recipient, tax status, ownership structure and nature of the activity. GDT lists Prakas No. 576 on Tax on Property and Prakas No. 578 on Tax on Income, both dated 19 September 2024, as valid. Until the owner-specific position is confirmed, keep rental-income tax as a separate unknown rather than applying one universal rate.
Calculate year one separately from a stabilised year
The first year can include furnishing, inspection, defect correction, utility setup, the first tenant search and a partial ownership period. A stabilised year assumes an operating unit and an ordinary lease cycle. Applying the stabilised result to year one overstates receipts precisely when startup costs are highest.
Show the first partial year, the first full year and the stabilised case separately. Do not backdate rent to a period before key release and tenant-ready condition, and begin rental growth only when the lease actually permits a review.
Every single-point result needs a downside case
At minimum, compare the base case with no rental growth, a longer letting period and a major replacement in the selected year. Change one input at a time first so the buyer can see which assumption has the largest effect on net income and recovery time.
RICS defines sensitivity analysis as testing how the result changes when one or two inputs change and cautions that a sophisticated model is not accurate without a strong evidence base. Save the calculation date, source for every input and a range of outcomes beside the headline result.