Underwrite the hold
Check rent against vacancy, expenses, reserves, and debt service before you treat a listing rent as cash flow.
Keep the rental on the house you actually bought.
Buy-and-hold does not need a refinance loop. Model rent, operating expenses, NOI, and DSCR before you close, then keep leases, bills, maintenance, and documents on the same property.
2026-017 · OakridgeRental
OverviewBudgetScheduleTasksFiles
Total budget$632,500of $650,000
Costs to date$318,72049% complete
Projected value$980,000On track
Land$95,000Complete
Hard costs$166,450On track
Soft costs$32,180On track
Financing$23,090On track
Close with the same numbers
Carry purchase, any rehab, and financing into the live record instead of starting a second spreadsheet after closing.
Operate
Track income, operating expenses, maintenance, leases, and files. NOI stays before debt service.
Decide later
When you sell, refinance, or keep holding, the original analysis and the rental history are still attached.
A rent headline that does not cover the payment
Illustrative hold. Scheduled rent $2,400 a month. Vacancy allowance 5%. Annual tax $3,600, insurance $1,400, other operating costs $500 a month. Debt service $1,500 a month.
Effective gross income$27,360
Operating expenses$11,000
Net operating income$16,360
Annual debt service$18,000
DSCR0.91
NOI does not cover the payment. The property can still be a personal housing decision or a value-add if you have a written plan to raise rent or cut the basis. It is not a cash-flow buy on these inputs. Change the loan, the price, or the rent, and run the NOI calculator again. Do not drop the vacancy line to make the ratio match a lender slogan.
Common questions
What this strategy page will and will not decide for you.
Does NOI include the mortgage?
No. Net operating income is property income after operating expenses and before debt service and income tax. DSCR then compares NOI with the required payment.
Is Rehabfolio a full landlord banking app?
No. It keeps the underwriting and the operating record together. Rent collection networks, tenant-screening bureaus, and property bank accounts are separate products. See the Stessa comparison.
How should I treat reserves?
Put a recurring repair and capital allowance in the operating costs you underwrite, even if your tax return classifies a later replacement differently.
Can I start from a flip file?
Yes. If you decide to hold instead of sell, the purchase, rehab, and documents are already on the property.
What is a good DSCR?
Whatever the lender's term sheet requires, plus a margin you can live with if a unit goes vacant. There is no universal good number on this page.
Keep the numbers, work, files, and outcome connected.
Every strategy starts the same way: analyze the deal before you commit. Run one free analysis in your browser. No account and no card for that screen.