Property deal analyser

What the traffic lights mean

Each light compares one number against a threshold the calculator applies to every deal, so a green on cash flow means the property pays for itself on your figures and nothing more. Cash flow is green at break-even or better, amber down to $100 a month short, and red below that. Gross yield goes green at 6% and amber at 4%; cash-on-cash return goes green at 8% and amber at 4%. The overall light is the worst of the three, which is deliberate: a deal that looks fine on yield and bleeds cash every month is still bleeding cash. At today’s rates a property bought with a standard 80% loan often lands on red for that reason, as the example above does.

The acquisition cost table underneath is the part most people underestimate. Transfer duty alone can run past $30,000 on a mid-priced purchase in some states, and foreign-buyer surcharges or first-home concessions move it by tens of thousands more. The table uses the same rates as our stamp duty calculator, so the total funds required is the figure you’d actually need on settlement day, not the deposit alone.