Cash flow application

Hey Leo,

I tried a few products but ended up just making my own spreadsheet. As Terry says, it was a great opportunity to learn too.

I made sure I considered the following:

• purchase price
• interest rate (and I ensured I inflated it a bit for safety)
• loan value
• expected rent
• management fees
• other costs (water, rates, body corp etc)
• any costs associated with the loan, including set-up fees and ongoing fees
• stamp duty and other purchasing charges (which can vary from state to state)
• depreciation (and build year)
• insurance

My spreadsheet is a bit of a work in progress still (and I have ten properties) but I'm very happy with it. Kaz and I are developing some software which will hopefully do a better job and I can let you know when we've done it if you'd like.

I also have a very rough spreadsheet which only considers:

• purchase price
• interest rate (and I ensured I inflated it a bit for safety)
• loan value
• expected rent
• stamp duty and other purchasing charges (which can vary from state to state)
• a rough estimate of other costs

which I use when I want a really rough estimate of how a property will perform. The rough guide gives me a good indication of whether a property is worth investigating further and it's great because I don't spend my time on stuff that might sound better than it actually is.

Have a go at creating your own spreadsheet!

Good luck!
Den