Enter your properties and see your entire real estate portfolio's cash flow, equity, ROI per property, and total net worth on one screen.
Four rentals, three lenders, two property managers, and a spreadsheet you stopped updating in March — this dashboard pulls it back together. Add each property with purchase price, current value, rent, mortgage, and expenses, and it calculates total portfolio cash flow, equity per property, cash-on-cash return, and 5-year projected value on one screen.
The dashboard also projects your portfolio's 5-year value at a 3.5% annual appreciation assumption, tracks cash flow by property, and shows you which property is performing best. For landlords managing 2 to 10 properties, this is the single-screen overview that replaces the quarterly reconciliation spreadsheet.
What the dashboard calculates from your property inputs
For each property, you enter purchase price, current market value, monthly rent, monthly mortgage payment, and monthly expenses. From those inputs, the dashboard calculates monthly cash flow (rent minus all costs), equity (current value minus remaining mortgage balance), and cash-on-cash return for that property. Across all properties, it sums monthly portfolio profit, total net worth in real estate, and total portfolio market value.
The Which Property Performs Best panel ranks your properties by cash flow and cash-on-cash return, making it immediately visible which properties are pulling the portfolio up and which are dragging it down. A property with $50 monthly cash flow against $40,000 in tied-up equity is performing very differently from one with $350 monthly cash flow against the same equity — the dashboard makes that comparison without requiring manual calculation.
Net worth in real estate is the sum of equity across all properties — current value minus outstanding mortgage on each. This number, placed alongside your total portfolio cash flow, is the clearest picture of whether your real estate holdings are building wealth and generating income simultaneously, or whether they are equity-rich and cash-flow-poor.
Cash flow per property: the metric that tells you where to act
Monthly cash flow for each property is rent minus mortgage, insurance, property tax (if not escrowed in the mortgage), maintenance reserves, and any other monthly expenses. A property that rents for $1,650 with a $1,100 mortgage, $180 in escrow, and a 5% maintenance reserve of $82 produces $288 in monthly cash flow. That number tells you whether the property is pulling its weight.
The Cash Flow by Property chart in the dashboard makes it easy to see at a glance which properties are cash flow positive, which are near breakeven, and which are negative. A negative cash flow property is not necessarily a bad investment — it may be appreciating rapidly in a supply-constrained market — but it should be a deliberate choice, not a surprise. The dashboard makes it a visible, deliberate data point.
The 5-Year Portfolio Projection at 3.5% annual appreciation shows where your portfolio market value is headed if current trends hold. On a $900,000 portfolio, 3.5% annual appreciation adds roughly $162,000 over 5 years before mortgage paydown is considered. That projection, alongside cumulative cash flow over the same period, gives you a total 5-year return estimate that puts each property in long-term context.
Equity and value: where your real estate wealth lives
The Equity and Value Breakdown panel shows how your real estate net worth is distributed across properties. A portfolio where 80% of equity sits in one property and the other two generate most of the cash flow has a concentration risk worth acknowledging. Conversely, a portfolio where equity is spread evenly but cash flow is concentrated in one property has a different risk profile.
Understanding the equity distribution also informs refinance and exit decisions. A property with high equity and low cash flow may be a candidate for a cash-out refinance that deploys equity into a higher-yielding property. A property with low equity but strong cash flow is a different kind of asset — the yield on invested capital is strong, even if the total wealth contribution is smaller.
Portfolio market value is not the same as portfolio net worth in real estate — the first is the gross value of all properties, the second is what you actually own after subtracting all mortgages. Both numbers are useful: market value for insurance and lender discussions; net worth for personal balance sheet tracking and retirement planning.
Managing expenses per property for an accurate model
Expenses in the dashboard include your monthly mortgage payment and any other recurring costs: property management fees if you use a manager, homeowners association dues, insurance if not escrowed, and a maintenance reserve. The maintenance reserve is the input most landlords omit. A standard rule of thumb is 5–10% of monthly rent set aside for future maintenance and capital expenditures. On a $1,600 rent property, that is $80–$160 per month.
Without a maintenance reserve in your expense inputs, cash flow appears higher than it actually is on a long-run basis. The roof, furnace, water heater, and appliances all have useful lives. Properties that show $400 in monthly cash flow before the reserve, and only $220 after it, are still positive — but owners who do not account for the reserve spend years of 'positive cash flow' and then face a $12,000 repair that wipes out years of income.
Property management fees, where applicable, are typically 8–12% of gross rent. A property managed by a third party at 10% on $1,600 rent adds $160 to monthly expenses. This cost belongs in the expenses field because it is a real monthly cash outflow that determines whether the investment is profitable on a fully-passive basis — the definition of passive income for most real estate investors.
Using the dashboard before a buy or sell decision
Before adding a new property, run the dashboard with the new property's projected numbers alongside your existing portfolio. Add the purchase price, estimated market value, target rent, projected mortgage payment, and estimated expenses. The dashboard will show how the addition changes total portfolio cash flow, total equity, and net worth. If the new property increases portfolio cash flow while adding proportional equity, it strengthens the portfolio. If it increases equity but generates negative cash flow, the model shows the monthly cost of that choice.
Before selling a property, enter its removal from the dashboard and see how portfolio metrics change. Sometimes a property that feels like a drag — a headache tenant, a high-maintenance building — is actually the portfolio's best cash flow contributor. The dashboard makes that visible before you commit to a sale decision. Start a free trial to save and revisit the dashboard each quarter — a 5-minute update beats rebuilding from scratch every time.
How to use it
- Click 'Enter your properties' and add each property with address or name, purchase price, and current market value.
- Enter the monthly rent collected, total monthly mortgage payment, and any other monthly expenses per property.
- Review the portfolio summary: monthly portfolio profit, total net worth in real estate, and portfolio market value.
- Check the Which Property Performs Best panel to identify your strongest and weakest cash flow contributors.
- Review the 5-Year Portfolio Projection and Cash Flow by Property charts for forward-looking perspective.
Who it's for
- Landlord with 4 rental properties doing a quarterly review — Updates current market values and rent figures across all properties to see whether total portfolio cash flow has improved since last quarter.
- Real estate investor evaluating a fifth acquisition — Adds a candidate property with projected numbers to see how it changes total portfolio cash flow, equity, and ROI before making an offer.
- House hacker tracking their primary residence as a portfolio asset — Enters the owner-occupied unit and rental units as separate line items to see total cash flow including the implicit rent offset on the owner's unit.
- Portfolio owner deciding which property to sell — Reviews the cash flow and ROI rankings to identify which property is the weakest performer before deciding on a disposition strategy.
- Investor preparing for a refinance application — Uses the total equity and portfolio market value output to frame the conversation with a portfolio lender or mortgage broker.
Key terms
- Cash flow
- Monthly rent minus all monthly costs including mortgage, insurance, taxes, management fees, and maintenance reserve — what actually lands in your pocket.
- Equity
- Current market value of a property minus the outstanding mortgage balance — your net ownership stake in that asset.
- Cash-on-cash return
- Annual cash flow divided by total cash invested (down payment plus closing costs) — the yield on the money you actually put in.
- Maintenance reserve
- A monthly set-aside, typically 5–10% of rent, for future repairs and capital expenditures on the property.
Frequently asked questions
How do I enter current market value if I do not know it precisely?
Use a conservative Zestimate, recent comparable sales in the neighborhood, or your most recent appraisal. The 5-Year Projection and equity calculation depend on this number, so a reasonable estimate is better than leaving it at purchase price if values have moved significantly.
Should I include principal paydown in my cash flow calculation?
This dashboard calculates cash flow as rent minus all cash payments out — including your full mortgage payment (principal and interest). Principal paydown is captured implicitly in the equity figure: as you pay down principal, equity grows. The cash flow and equity views together give you the complete picture.
What maintenance reserve percentage should I use?
Most experienced landlords use 5–10% of gross rent as a monthly maintenance reserve. Older properties, properties in climates with extreme weather, and properties with higher-end finishes tend to require reserves toward the 10% end. Newer construction with builder warranties in place may sustain 5% adequately in early years.
Can I use this dashboard for short-term rentals alongside long-term?
Yes. For short-term rentals, enter average monthly gross revenue in the rent field and include platform fees in monthly expenses. Cash flow calculation logic is the same — revenue minus all costs. The seasonality of short-term rental income means your actual monthly results may vary more than long-term rentals, so consider entering a conservative annual average.
How does the 5-year projection handle properties I might sell before then?
The projection assumes all current properties are held for 5 years at 3.5% annual appreciation. If you plan to sell a property before the 5-year mark, you can model that by removing it from the dashboard and treating the sale proceeds as equity deployed elsewhere. The projection is a planning tool, not a forecast of a specific outcome.