Introduction
Welcome to our brickable.xyz guide where we walk you through how to use brickable.xyz—a powerful investment property calculator for 2025. Our calculator is designed to help you make data-driven decisions about potential real estate investments through instant ROI analysis and comprehensive expense breakdowns.
Whether you're a beginner investor or a seasoned professional, our tool provides the insights you need to evaluate property investments effectively. Let's explore how to use our calculator to its full potential.
Step-by-Step Guide
Here's how to use the Brickable.xyz calculator to analyze your potential property investments:
1. Enter Property Details
Start by entering the basic property information:
- Property Price: Enter the total purchase price of the property you're considering
- Down Payment: Specify your intended down payment percentage (default is 20%)
- Interest Rate: Input the annual mortgage interest rate, or use our "Get Current Rate" feature to fetch the latest 30-year fixed rate
- Mortgage Term: Set the length of the mortgage in years (default is 30 years)
2. Set Income and Expenses
Next, input the rental income and operating expenses:
- Monthly Rental Income: Enter your expected monthly rental income, or use our automatic estimation based on the 0.8% rule-of-thumb
- Monthly Operating Expenses: Input your estimated monthly expenses, including:
- Property Tax (typically ~1% of property value annually)
- Insurance (~0.5% of property value annually)
- Maintenance (~1% of property value annually)
- Property Management (~10% of monthly rent)
- Vacancy Reserve (~8.33% of monthly rent)
3. Review Your Analysis
The calculator instantly provides a comprehensive investment analysis including:
- Monthly Mortgage Payment: Your expected monthly mortgage payment based on the loan terms
- Net Monthly Income: The difference between rental income and total expenses (including mortgage)
- Annual Net Income: Your yearly profit or loss after all expenses
- Cash-on-Cash ROI: The return on investment percentage based on your down payment
4. Visualize Your Investment
Our calculator provides two interactive charts to help you understand your investment better:
- Monthly Expenses Breakdown: A pie chart showing the distribution of your monthly expenses
- ROI Comparison: A bar chart comparing your property's ROI to other common investments like the S&P 500, bonds, and high-yield savings
Investment Evaluation
The calculator uses a 7% ROI threshold to evaluate investments. This benchmark is chosen because it typically exceeds both average stock market returns (6-7%) and inflation (2-3%), while accounting for the added complexity of managing real estate. Your investment will be labeled as either:
- Good Investment: If the cash-on-cash ROI exceeds 7%
- Poor Investment: If the ROI falls below the 7% threshold
Using the Results
Use the calculator's results to:
- Compare different properties quickly and objectively
- Understand the full financial impact of your investment
- Make data-driven decisions about property investments
- Identify whether a property meets your investment criteria
Conclusion
Brickable.xyz's investment property calculator provides the essential tools you need to evaluate potential real estate investments quickly and accurately. By following this guide and utilizing all the calculator's features, you can make more informed decisions about your property investments in 2025 and beyond.