Investment Property
Calculators

12 free calculators for Australian investors, and the order to run them in. Yield, cash flow, negative gearing, CGT, stamp duty, land tax and 30-year growth projections.

See the Calculators

No single calculator tells you whether a property is worth buying. Each one answers a different question, and the answers only mean something together. A property with a strong yield can still cost you $200 a week once rates, insurance and management come out, and a property that looks expensive at settlement can be the cheaper one to hold.

Most spreadsheets miss the costs that decide it. Vacancy allowance. Depreciation. State-by-state stamp duty brackets. The tax bracket your salary actually sits in. Those inputs move the answer by tens of thousands of dollars over a hold, which is why they are all built in here.

The 12 Calculators

Each calculator answers one question. The five-step sequence further down is how we work through them on a real deal.

01

Usable Equity Calculator

Equity a lender will release

How much of your home equity you can actually draw on, and what it funds as a deposit.

02

Equity Recycling Modeller

When the next purchase triggers

Models buy, refinance, repeat, so you can see when properties 2 and 3 become possible.

03

Rental Yield Calculator

Gross and net yield on any property

First filter on whether a property stacks up as an investment.

04

Cash Flow Calculator

Weekly out-of-pocket cost

Tells you what the property actually costs you each week after rent and tax.

05

Negative Gearing Calculator

Tax saving from negative gearing

How much tax the loss on the property reduces, with a 10-year projection.

06

Upfront Cost Calculator

Total cash to settle

Stamp duty plus legal, inspection, lender, and buffer costs.

07

Stamp Duty Calculator

State-by-state stamp duty

Real bracket breakdowns for every state, first home buyer concessions where they apply.

08

Land Tax Calculator

Annual land tax across a portfolio

Compares the land tax burden across states based on your total landholdings.

09

Capital Gains Tax Calculator

CGT when you sell

Includes the 50% discount, depreciation clawback, and the effect on your tax bracket.

10

Growth Projections

10, 20 and 30-year projection

Models compounding capital growth and rental increases over a long hold.

11

Pay Off Your Home Faster

PPOR vs PPOR plus an investment

Compares paying down your home loan against also owning an investment property.

12

Rent vs Buy Calculator

Renting vs buying a home

Net wealth, equity and tax position over 5 to 10 years for each path.

How to Use Them
in Order

A practical sequence for evaluating any investment property. Each step narrows the field.

01

Filter on yield first

Run the rental yield calculator on every shortlisted property. Anything below the yield band you need (typically 4-6% for capital city, 5-7% for regional) drops off. Saves hours on properties that don't stack up.

02

Validate cash flow

The cash flow calculator tells you the real weekly cost after tax. A property that looks negatively geared on paper might be cash flow positive after depreciation. Or vice versa.

03

Layer in tax position

Run the negative gearing calculator at your marginal tax rate. The benefit on a $50k earner is very different from a $250k earner. Both can be valid investment cases, just for different reasons.

04

Total upfront cash needed

The upfront cost calculator lays out deposit plus stamp duty plus legal plus inspections. Investors regularly underestimate by $10k to $20k. Run it before going to a broker, not after.

05

Stress test the long term

The growth projection calculator models 10, 20, and 30-year compounding. Sets realistic expectations and lets you compare two markets at different growth rates on the same basis.

06

CGT and exit math

Before you buy, model the sale. The capital gains tax calculator shows what you actually walk away with after CGT, with the 50% discount and depreciation clawback applied. Affects which structure (personal name vs SMSF) is best.

What Most Calculators Get Wrong

If you've used a generic calculator and the numbers felt off, it's usually one of these.

Vacancy ignored

Most cash flow calculators assume 100% occupancy. Realistic vacancy is 2-4 weeks per year. On a $600/week rental, that's $1,200 to $2,400 missing from the model.

Depreciation skipped

Depreciation can add $5,000 to $15,000 of non-cash deductions per year on an established property with a recent reno. Skipping it understates the after-tax position by thousands.

Wrong stamp duty

Generic calculators use a flat percentage. Real stamp duty is bracketed and varies by state. A $700,000 property in Victoria has very different duty to the same price in WA.

Tax bracket flat-rated

A negative gearing benefit at 32.5% versus 47% gives very different answers. The right calculator runs your specific bracket including Medicare levy.

CGT discount missed

Property held over 12 months in personal name gets a 50% CGT discount. Depreciation gets clawed back. Both flip the answer on whether to sell or hold.

Land tax forgotten

Below the threshold, land tax is zero. Above it, it can be thousands per year and rises sharply with each new property. Investors with two or three properties in one state get caught here.

How We Use These with Clients

During a strategy session, we run these calculators alongside the client. Specific property, specific numbers, specific tax position. The output is a clear picture of what the property does to the client's net wealth across a 10 to 20 year hold.

If the numbers don't stack up, we don't buy the property. The discipline is the point. Most poor investment decisions come from skipping the math, not from making the wrong call once the math is in front of you.

If you'd rather have someone run these for you on real shortlisted properties, see our investment buyers agent service.

Book a Free Discovery Call

Related Resources

Investment Buyers Agent
Get help on a real property.
Buyers Agent Fees
The cost of using a buyers agent.
SMSF Property
Buying through a self-managed super fund.
Rentvesting
Rent where you live, invest where it works.

Book Your Free
Discovery Call

A 15 minute call to understand your goals, your budget, and whether Australia is the right market for what you're trying to build.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an investment property calculator? +

A tool that estimates one number for an investment property: rental yield, weekly cash flow, tax saving from negative gearing, capital gains tax on sale, stamp duty, or long-term growth. Each calculator answers one question. Used together they tell you whether a property is worth buying.

How do you calculate rental yield? +

Gross yield is annual rent divided by purchase price, expressed as a percentage. $30,000 rent on a $600,000 property is 5%. Net yield subtracts ongoing costs (rates, insurance, management, maintenance) before the calculation, giving a more realistic figure.

How do you calculate negative gearing? +

Negative gearing happens when annual costs exceed annual rent. The loss reduces your taxable income from other sources. The tax benefit equals the loss multiplied by your marginal tax rate. Our negative gearing calculator runs this with full deductions and a 10-year projection.

Are these calculators free? +

Yes. Every calculator runs in your browser and the numbers appear on screen straight away. If you want the results as a written report, you can have them emailed to you.

Are these accurate? +

Accurate for the inputs you provide. Current state stamp duty brackets, realistic expense ratios, and standard tax treatment. The output is only as accurate as the rent estimate, growth assumption, and interest rate you input. Decision tools, not predictions.

What costs go into an investment property calculator?+

Purchase costs (stamp duty, legal, inspections, lender fees), ongoing costs (interest, rates, insurance, property management at 7-10%, maintenance, vacancy allowance), depreciation, and tax. A complete calculator captures all of these. Most spreadsheet versions miss depreciation and vacancy, which distorts the answer.

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