Average Net Cash Flow ? (Per door)

[Nate Sanow]

Hi all,

I know there's CAP rates, ROI / NOI, 1% rules, but in terms of cold hard dollars, I'd be fascinated to know what you average real life positive cash flow per door is, on average, per month. I'm just asking for my own selfish motivation / inspiration and to dial in a buy and hold strategy. It can be without expenses for simplicity sake. Or included.

Simply put: per rental do you get $100-$500 net cash per month? (Example dollar amount)

I'd prefer SFR examples, because obviously larger apartment deals while really juicy are also at a scale I myself cannot yet reach.

I’m also curious for those who have achieved early FI how many doors it took.

I tried to see if already on a forum but didn’t see it, so thanks in advance if you do respond!

[Ray Johnson]

I agree with @Joe Villeneuve regarding the additional metrics. @Nate Sanow I looked at a deals for a guy last week and he was reflecting cash flow of $208.75 in month two of having a tenant. 

I said I don't see at what point in the timeline you Break-even and actually start making money, He asked what I meant, he said I get a tenant in the second month in my analysis, that's when I start to cash flow. I told him until you get all of your initial cost (closing cost, purchase cost, down payment, etc..) You don't have any cash flow, you have reimbursed owner funds received from rent in the amount of $208.75, you basically prepaid the rent for the tenant at closing and they are paying you back in monthly installments until all of your cash is out of the deal.

I showed him he doesn't have true cash flow until year 7 on the deal when he gets his $18,800 in cash out of the deal (down payment, closing cost, etc). With the caveat that he doesn't have to purchase a CapEx items early based on monthly set-asides or rehab a trashed property beyond normal wear and tear.

So in Joe's defense, your question is asking for "Net Cash Flow" which will include the need to factor in all cash initially invested being out of the deal. A person with a property in year 1 or 2 saying they have $400 a month in cash flow means they are missing a key metric in the information they are giving you unless the deal was100% financing and the only cost they paid out of pocket is the inspection cost, appraisal cost, and closing cost.

If you're doing a BRRR the timeline gets shorter to start cash flowing but most deals do not cash flow early on.