Asked & answered — including the awkward ones

Yes, and no. There is no email wall, no account, no cookies set by this site and no analytics. Every number you type stays in your browser, and the PDF report is generated on your own device. The only time anything leaves this site is when you click through to a loan officer’s site or to Fairway.

They are a sample Twin Cities duplex scenario, chosen to be realistic rather than flattering: a non-homestead property-tax rate, a landlord insurance policy, a 5% vacancy allowance and a maintenance budget of 1% of value per year. Tax, insurance, maintenance and closing costs auto-scale with the purchase price until you type your own figure. Replace every one of them with figures from the actual listing, county records, an insurance quote and local rent comps.

Two pages: the year-one headline metrics (cash flow, cap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCR, NOI, cash needed), plain-English verdicts, the full purchase, financing, income and expense breakdown, a year-by-year projection with charts, the sale analysis for your chosen hold period, and the disclosures. It carries your loan officer’s contact details so you can forward it straight to them, your agent or a partner.

Download the PDF — that is the saved scenario. Because nothing is stored on a server, there is no account to log into and no scenario history; if you change a number, generate a fresh report.

Opinions vary, and the honest answer is “it depends what else you could do with the money.” Many investors target 6–10% cash-on-cash on a leveraged long-term rental, accept less for a property in a strong appreciation corridor, and want more for a heavy-rehab or rural deal. In today’s Twin Cities market, thin cash-on-cash with solid appreciation and principal paydown is common — which is why the report shows total return and IRR, not just cash flow.

Debt service coverage ratio — net operating income divided by the annual mortgage payment — is the metric investor loan programs are built on. A DSCR of 1.25× means the property earns 25% more than it owes the lender each year. Many investment-property programs look for roughly 1.20–1.25× or better; some DSCR loans allow lower with a bigger down payment or higher rate. If your DSCR is below 1.0×, the property does not pay for itself.

Because the mortgage is not the only bill. Property tax, insurance, vacancy, maintenance and management typically eat 35–50% of rent on a Minnesota rental. The calculator deducts all of those before the mortgage. A property that “covers the mortgage” but not the reserves will cash flow on paper and bleed the first time the furnace dies in January.

Cap rate ignores financing: it is net operating income divided by purchase price, so it compares properties regardless of how they are bought. Cash-on-cash includes financing: it is annual cash flow after the mortgage divided by the cash you actually put in. Cap rate tells you about the property; cash-on-cash tells you about your deal.

More than on a home you will live in. Conventional investment-property loans commonly require 15–25% down depending on the number of units, and 2–4 unit properties sit at the higher end. Rates run higher than owner-occupied pricing, and lenders usually want cash reserves after closing. If you plan to live in one unit of a 2–4 unit property, owner-occupied programs with much lower down payments may apply — ask your loan officer.

A loan qualified primarily on the property’s rental income (its debt service coverage ratio) rather than your personal tax returns. It is popular with self-employed investors and people building a portfolio. Pricing and down-payment requirements differ from conventional loans. Your loan officer can run the same scenario both ways.

The picker lists the loan officers of the Oliver White Mortgage Group at Fairway Home Mortgage’s Eden Prairie branch. Choosing one sets where the Connect button sends you (their own site or Fairway profile) and whose contact details print on the PDF. Nothing about your scenario is transmitted — bring the PDF with you.

No. Depreciation, passive-loss rules, Minnesota non-homestead classification, rental licensing and local rent-stabilization ordinances all affect real returns and all change. The guide page explains the concepts; a CPA and an attorney tell you how they apply to you.