Return on Investment (ROI) Versus Cash on Cash Return (CCR)

A great question came up today on the forums, inquiring what the difference was between Return on Investment (ROI) and Cash on Cash Return (CCR). I think the question was answered perfectly here, but I’ll elaborate a bit.

EXAMPLE:
Suppose you buy a house for $100,000 and sell it later for $110,000.

Your return on investment is 10%.
- The 10% is the increase that you see in your TOTAL INVESTMENT (Loan + Down Payment)

If you only put 10% ($10,000) down (we’ll ignore losing costs and commissions here) then your cash on cash return is 100%.
- The return you made on the ACTUAL CASH that you invested in the property is 100% ($10,000 increase on $10,000 cash invested).

If you paid cash in this situation, then CCR and ROI are equal.

If we use a similar example — suppose you buy a house for $100,000 and sell it later for $110,000 but this time you put 20% down on the property. Your return on investment is still 10%, but your CCR is now only 50%.

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