DSCR Calculator
Debt service coverage ratio is the number a lender checks before approving a rental property loan. Enter your rent, running costs and loan payment to see your ratio — and the rent or payment that keeps you above the usual 1.25 minimum.
Your numbers
Rent you actually expect to collect. Lower it if you expect empty months.
Parking, storage, laundry or fees the property brings in.
Management, insurance, property tax, service charges and a maintenance allowance — everything except the loan.
Principal and interest on the mortgage — the debt service.
Debt service coverage ratio
1.14
Covers the debt, but below the 1.25 many lenders ask for
The maths
Bar is full at a DSCR of 1.50
What this means
DSCR 1.14 — minimum
A DSCR between 1.00 and 1.25 means the property covers its debt but with little room for an empty month or a large repair. Some lenders accept this, usually at a higher rate.
The maths behind it
Net operating income of $19,200 a year divided by $16,800 of annual debt service gives 1.14.
Rent needed to break even on the debt
At these costs, the rent would need to be about $2,000 a month for the property to cover its loan payments exactly (DSCR 1.00).
Largest payment that keeps DSCR at 1.25
With this income, a monthly loan payment up to about $1,280 keeps the ratio at 1.25 — a common lender minimum.
Watch your real DSCR month by month
Save this property and Propertira tracks the actual rent, costs and cash flow, so you can see the ratio move as rents, rates and expenses change.
Track This PropertyNo card needed. Your calculator numbers carry over to your first property.
Propertira provides estimates based on the information you enter. Results are for informational purposes only and are not financial, tax, legal or investment advice.
What DSCR tells a lender — and you
DSCR — debt service coverage ratio — answers one question: does the property's income cover its loan payments, and by how much? A ratio of 1.00 means the rent exactly covers the debt with nothing left over. Lenders use it because it measures the deal's ability to pay for itself, independent of your personal income. You should use it for the same reason before they do.
A worked example: a property rents for 2,200 a month with 600 of operating costs, so net operating income is 1,600 a month or 19,200 a year. The loan payment is 1,400 a month — 16,800 a year. DSCR is 19,200 ÷ 16,800 = 1.14: the property covers its debt, but below the 1.25 many lenders want, and a single empty month would push it under water.
Why 1.25 is the number to remember
A 1.25 ratio means the property earns 25% more than its debt payments — enough room for a vacancy, a repair or a rate rise without the loan coming out of your pocket. That is why so many investment-property lenders set it as their minimum, and why a deal that only works at 1.05 is fragile even if a lender will touch it.
DSCR is not the whole picture
DSCR says nothing about how much cash you put in or what that cash earns. A property can pass a lender's DSCR test and still return very little on your deposit. Judge the monthly position with the rental cash flow calculator, the return on your own money with the cash on cash return calculator, and the property's yield with the cap rate calculator.
What this calculator does not do
It does not model interest-only periods, rate changes, lender stress tests or taxes. It turns the figures you enter into the ratio itself, the break-even rent and the largest loan payment that keeps a 1.25 cushion, so you can compare deals on the same basis. Lending rules vary by lender and country — treat the thresholds as the common case, not a guarantee.
Good to know
Read next
- Work out your break-even rentThe minimum monthly rent that covers every recurring cost on the property.
- Rental property profit margin explainedHow much of each rent payment a landlord typically keeps once costs are paid.
- What is a good ROI on a rental property?The return numbers worth aiming for, and how to calculate your own.
- How much to set aside for maintenanceSimple ways to size a maintenance reserve so repairs never wreck a month.
- Best free tools for landlords in 2026What the free options do well, and where they stop being enough.
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