Rental property calculator: will this Jacksonville rental pay for itself?

A rental can look great on a listing sheet and still lose money every month. This calculator is meant to catch that before you write an offer. The numbers are only as good as what you put in, so use real quotes for insurance, taxes and HOA dues, not guesses. I'm a REALTOR®, not a lender, tax advisor or attorney, so confirm the details with them.

What each result means

• Monthly cash flow: rent, minus the vacancy allowance, minus every monthly cost (management, maintenance, capital reserves, property taxes, insurance, flood, HOA, CDD and other), minus the mortgage payment. It's what's left for you, or what you add from your own pocket if it's negative.
• NOI (net operating income): a year of rent after vacancy, minus operating costs, before the mortgage. It describes the property, not your loan.
• Cap rate: NOI divided by the purchase price. It lets you compare properties as if each were bought with cash. It ignores financing completely.
• Cash on cash return: a year of cash flow divided by the cash you put into the deal. If you spent money beyond the down payment, like closing costs or a new water heater, your return on all of your cash is lower than the figure shown.
• DSCR (debt service coverage ratio): NOI divided by a year of mortgage payments. At 1.00 the property's income just covers the loan. Lenders that underwrite on DSCR set their own minimums, so ask yours.

Don't set vacancy, maintenance or reserves to zero to make a deal work. Roofs, AC systems and water heaters wear out whether you budgeted for them or not.

Property taxes on a Florida rental

A rental doesn't get the homestead exemption. That exemption applies only to property classified and assessed as owner occupied (Florida Statutes). If you rent out all or substantially all of a home you've claimed as homestead, the law treats that as abandoning the homestead, although renting it after January 1 doesn't affect that year's exemption unless it's rented more than 30 days a year for 2 years in a row (Florida Statutes).

Non homestead residential property has its own limit. For all levies other than school district levies, its assessed value can't rise more than 10% a year, and it's reassessed at just value after a change of ownership (Florida Statutes). That second part matters. The seller's tax bill may reflect years of capped growth, and your bill after closing may be higher, so estimate taxes from the purchase price, not the seller's bill.

That cap could change. Amendment 3, CS/HJR 1F, is on the November 3, 2026 ballot (Leon County Property Appraiser). If voters approve it, the yearly cap for non homestead property would drop from 10% to 5% beginning January 1, 2027, including residential property with nine units or fewer (Florida Senate).

Short term rentals: license and taxes

Florida treats a house or condo unit rented to guests more than three times a year for stays under 30 days as a transient public lodging establishment (Florida Statutes), and those need a license from the state (Florida Statutes). The Department of Business and Professional Regulation issues a Vacation Rental Condominium license for condo units and a Vacation Rental Dwelling license for houses and townhouses (Florida DBPR).

Stays of six months or less also carry taxes. The state charges 6% sales tax on transient rentals (Florida Statutes), plus any county surtax, and counties add their own local option transient rental tax (Florida Department of Revenue). As of October 2026:

The Duval tax collector puts the total on a Jacksonville short term stay at 13.5%, counting a 7.5% sales tax paid to the Department of Revenue (Duval County Tax Collector).

Local short term rental rules

State law bars local governments from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating how long or how often they're rented, unless the rule was adopted on or before June 1, 2011 (Florida Statutes). Local registration and operating rules still exist. St. Johns County, for example, requires short term rental units covered by its ordinance to be registered and renewed every 12 months, with some exemptions, including unincorporated areas west of the Intracoastal (St. Johns County). DBPR also reminds licensees they may be subject to city and county rules (Florida DBPR). Check with the city or county, and read the HOA or condo documents, before you count on nightly income.

Long term tenants and security deposits

Florida's security deposit rules are in section 83.49. The landlord holds the money in a separate Florida bank account or posts a surety bond. With no claim, the deposit goes back within 15 days after the lease ends. To make a claim, the landlord sends written notice by certified mail or email within 30 days, and the tenant has 15 days to object (Florida Statutes). A property manager should know this cold.

Financing an investment property

Loans for rentals aren't priced like a loan on the home you live in. Rates, down payment, reserves and DSCR minimums vary by lender and loan type, so get a written quote and plug in that rate. Get insurance and flood quotes from a licensed agent, and check the flood zone with my address check tool. For more on how I work with buyers like you, see my page for real estate investors.