Gross is for screening. Net is for deciding.
Rental Yield Calculator - gross and net
Anyone can divide rent by price. Net yield - after vacancy, management, rates, water, insurance and maintenance - is the number that predicts your cash flow, and it's usually 2% lower than the agent's brochure figure.
Property & costs
Gross yield
4.51%
rent ÷ price, before any costs
Net yield
2.18%
after vacancy & holding costs
Where the 2.33% goes
- Rent collected (after vacancy)
- $32,500/yr
- Management & letting
- −$2,860/yr
- Rates, water, insurance
- −$5,800/yr
- Maintenance (est. 1% of price)
- −$7,500/yr
- Net income before loan & tax
- $16,340/yr ($314/wk)
Yield is the screen, not the decision. The full audit adds the loan, the tax regime and ten years of cash flow.
Deal Auditor - in build, not yet available
Gross yield lies by omission
The yield in a listing is almost always gross: fifty-two weeks of rent divided by price, as if tenants never leave, agents work free and roofs never age. Real holding costs - vacancy, management around 8-9% including GST, council rates, water, insurance, maintenance that averages about 1% of the price a year, and body corporate on strata - routinely consume a third or more of the rent. Net yield puts them back, which is why a "4.5% yield" house is often a sub-2.5% net proposition.
Net yield still isn't the finish line: it excludes your loan and your tax treatment, which since May 2026 depends on acquisition class. Yield screens the property; the Deal Auditor decides the deal - against your own buy box, ten years out.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good rental yield in Australia?
Gross yields on houses in capital cities typically sit between 3% and 4.5%, with units higher at 4% to 5.5%, and regional markets higher again. But gross yield is a screening number, not a decision number - two properties with identical gross yields can differ by more than one percent net once rates, insurance, management, maintenance and vacancy are counted.
What is the difference between gross and net rental yield?
Gross yield is annual rent divided by purchase price. Net yield subtracts the real costs of holding - vacancy, management fees, council rates, water, insurance, maintenance and body corporate - before dividing. Net is the number that predicts cash flow, and it is routinely 1.5 to 2.5 percentage points below gross.
Does rental yield include loan repayments or tax?
No - yield is a property-level measure, independent of how you finance it or your tax position. Loan costs and your negative gearing treatment sit on top. That is deliberate: it lets you compare properties like for like. To see the after-tax, after-loan weekly position, run the full Deal Auditor.
Why do the default costs look like Queensland numbers?
Because they are - QLD-typical council rates, water and insurance are prefilled to give a realistic starting net yield. Every figure is editable, so set your own costs for any state.