How to Analyze a Rental Property in Under a Minute
Updated 2026 · PropVision
You don't need a 40-tab spreadsheet to know if a rental is worth pursuing. You need six numbers. Here's exactly what to look at, in order, so you can kill bad deals fast and focus on the good ones.
1. Rent estimate
What it is: the realistic monthly rent. Everything else flows from this. Pull comps from Zillow/Rentometer and be conservative — overestimating rent is the #1 way new investors lose money.
2. Cap rate
Formula: (Annual NOI ÷ Price) × 100. NOI is rent minus ~40% operating expenses (taxes, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, management). 5–8% is the sweet spot for most markets.
Full cap rate guide →
3. Monthly cash flow
Formula: Rent − operating expenses − mortgage payment. This is the actual dollars in your pocket each month. If it's negative, the deal has to win on appreciation or a value-add angle — otherwise skip it.
4. Cash-on-cash return
Formula: (Annual cash flow ÷ total cash invested) × 100. This is your real return on the money you put in (down payment + closing + rehab). 8%+ is healthy; double digits is strong.
5. The 1% rule (quick filter)
Rule of thumb: monthly rent should be ≥ 1% of the purchase price. A $200k home should rent for ~$2,000/mo. It's a rough screen, not gospel — but it's a fast first filter.
6. ARV (if you're adding value)
What it is: After-Repair Value — what the property is worth once renovated. Compare ARV to (purchase + rehab) to see if a flip or BRRRR makes sense.
BRRRR breakdown →
The shortcut
Doing this by hand for every listing takes 20–30 minutes each. PropVision runs all six numbers on any address in about 10 seconds — rent, cap rate, cash flow, cash-on-cash, and a buy-or-skip verdict — so you can screen 20 deals in the time it used to take to do one.
Try it free on any address →