Buy-to-let worth it?

[TheOracle]

A lot of South Africans buy a flat or a townhouse to rent out, or are thinking about it, and most of the calculators out there only give you the gross yield, the rent divided by the price. That number flatters every deal and hides the parts that actually decide whether a buy-to-let works. So I built one that tells the whole story.

Anyone interested can have a look here:

Buy-to-Let & Rental Yield Calculator South Africa

Thinking of buying a property to rent out? See the honest monthly cash flow, the three yields that matter, the tax on rental income and your total return. No signup.

southafricafacts.co.za

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Cool, should probably factor in levies if you're buying sectional title or HOA.

Also deposit is broken if you enter more than 3 numbers. It sets your bond to 0...

 

[Lupus]

Cool, should probably factor in levies if you're buying sectional title or HOA...

Rates and taxes as well, tenant is only responsible for water, lights, sanitation and refuse removal.

 

[TheOracle]

Cool, should probably factor in levies if you're buying sectional title or HOA...

You can add it under the Costs, tax and assumptions

 

[TheOracle]

Also deposit is broken if you enter more than 3 numbers. It sets your bond to 0...

Your bond will be 0 if your deposit % is more than 100.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Your bond will be 0 if your deposit % is more than 100.

Sorry I phrased it poorly. You shouldn't be allowed to enter more than 3 numbers, like a hard validation...

 

[TheOracle]

Sorry I phrased it poorly. You shouldn't be allowed to enter more than 3 numbers, like a hard validation...

That makes sense, thanks. It is now fixed.

 

[TheOracle]

I have add a section to compare it to alternatives:

 

[konfab]

Can I suggest making it shareable? Like putting in all the values and encoding them into a URL string, and then are pre-filled?

I do say curse you though. There is a property in the complex I am already letting my house in for sale...

 

[TheOracle]

Can I suggest making it shareable? Like putting in all the values and encoding them into a URL string, and then are pre-filled?

Great suggestion, thanks for it. Just built it. There's now a "Copy a shareable link" button on the tool that packs all your numbers into the URL, and opening that link pre-fills everything (it even expands the advanced section if you tweaked any of those).

 

[konfab]

Great suggestion, thanks for it. Just built it. There's now a "Copy a shareable link" button on the tool that packs all your numbers into the URL, and opening that link pre-fills everything (it even expands the advanced section if you tweaked any of those).

That works very well, thanks.