DSCR Calculator
Debt service coverage ratio the way rental lenders compute it, plus your max loan at a target DSCR. 100% free, no signup. Everything runs in your browser.
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DSCR is the number a rental property lender cares about more than your paycheck. It is the Debt Service Coverage Ratio: net operating income divided by annual debt service. This free calculator works it out from the inputs you actually have on hand, monthly rent, a vacancy percentage, operating expenses, and the loan amount, rate, and term. It shows your ratio against the bands lenders really use, and it flips the math around to tell you the maximum loan the property can support at a target DSCR.
Everything runs in your browser with nothing uploaded and no signup. I made this after realizing my rental yield calculator answered whether a property earns, but not whether a DSCR lender would actually finance it. Those turn out to be very different questions.
How to use
- Enter the monthly rent the property brings in, or the market rent from comparable listings if it is vacant.
- Set a vacancy percentage. Somewhere between 5 and 10 percent is a common planning assumption, and it is editable.
- Add annual operating expenses: property taxes, insurance, maintenance, management, and HOA dues if any.
- Enter the loan amount, interest rate, and term so the calculator can compute the annual debt service.
- Read your DSCR and see which lender band it lands in.
- Optionally set a target DSCR, like 1.25, and the tool shows the maximum loan the income supports.
Why use our dscr calculator?
The bands matter more than the raw number, so I show them. Most DSCR lenders want to see 1.2 to 1.25 or better, meaning the property earns at least 20 to 25 percent more than the mortgage costs. Some will lend down to 1.0, where rent exactly covers the payment, but they price that risk into the rate. Below 1.0 the property does not cover its own debt, and you are subsidizing it from your own pocket every month.
The reverse calculation is the part I use most myself. Instead of asking what ratio a given loan produces, ask what loan a given rent supports at the lender's target. That tells you your realistic borrowing ceiling before you ever talk to a broker, and it stops you falling in love with deals the financing cannot reach.
Every input is editable because taxes, insurance, and management fees vary wildly between a duplex in Cleveland and a condo in Tampa, and I pre-fill nothing that pretends to know your market. The outputs are estimates for screening deals, not financial advice, and a lender's underwriting will have its own definitions of income and expenses. Investopedia's DSCR explainer covers the formal definition if you want to go deeper.
DSCR loans qualify the property rather than the borrower, which is why self-employed investors and people scaling past conventional loan limits lean on them. Knowing your ratio before applying means no surprises at underwriting. Pair the result with my mortgage payment calculator if you want the payment itself broken down into principal and interest.
And it is all local math. Your rent roll and loan numbers never leave the browser tab, which is exactly how deal analysis should work.
Who is this tool for?
Pre-screening a purchase. Before you offer on a rental, run the expected rent and a realistic loan quote through the calculator. If the DSCR comes in at 1.05, you know the deal only works with more money down or a better rate, and you can negotiate accordingly.
Sizing a cash-out refinance. If you are pulling equity out of a rental, maybe as part of a BRRRR deal, the new loan has to keep the DSCR above the lender's floor. The max-loan-at-target output tells you exactly how much room you have.
Comparing properties. Two listings with identical prices can support very different loans once real taxes and insurance go in. I run both through the calculator and let the ratios argue it out. The cap rate calculator makes a good second opinion for the same comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Most lenders want 1.2 to 1.25 or higher for their best pricing. A ratio of 1.5 is comfortable, 1.0 is break-even, and below 1.0 means the rent does not cover the payment. Some lenders accept ratios near 1.0 but charge a higher rate for the added risk.
Gross rent minus the vacancy allowance minus operating expenses. Note that NOI excludes the mortgage itself. The mortgage shows up in the denominator of the ratio as annual debt service, which is simply twelve times the monthly principal and interest payment on the loan terms you entered.
Some do. Underwriting varies: certain lenders include a management fee regardless, and some use their own tax and insurance estimates rather than yours. That is exactly why every field here is editable, so you can mirror a specific lender's worksheet.
Yes, the math is identical. Commercial lenders often want slightly higher ratios, commonly 1.25 and up, and they may calculate NOI more strictly, but the formula is the same NOI over debt service.
No. The results are estimates built from your own assumptions, useful for screening and comparing deals. Actual loan terms come from a lender's underwriting, not from my math, and local costs can move the numbers a long way.
No. The calculator is plain JavaScript running locally in your browser. Nothing you type is transmitted or stored anywhere, and the tool keeps working if you go offline after the page loads.
For planning, 5 to 10 percent is common in most US markets, which is roughly two to five weeks empty per year. If your market or property class runs higher, use your number. Lenders sometimes impose their own vacancy factor regardless of local reality.