What’s the difference between ROI and CAP Rate?

One of our newer forum members recently asked:

“What’s the difference between ROI and CAP Rate?”

Thanks to one of our resident experts, Ryan Webber, he got a perfect answer:

ROI is your return on investment factoring in your financing. Its your annual cash flow after all expenses divided by your initial investment (out of pocket expense). ROI depicts the true percentage that you will make on your money in the first year. Capitalization rate (cap rate) is your ROI if you paid cash for the property. It doesn’t include financing. It is a better way to compare apples to apples and take financing differences out of the picture. Cap rate is factored by taking your annual Net Operating Income (NOI), which is your gross income minus all expenses except debt service (principal and interest mortgage payment), and dividing that by the purchase price of the house.

Again, Cap Rate is the percentage you would make on your money if you paid cash for the property, and ROI is what your actual percentage is when you factor financing into it.

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Article Author: Joshua Dorkin

Joshua has written 539 articles for us.
Visit Joshua's Website: http://www.biggerpockets.com/

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BiggerPockets.com was founded by Joshua Reed Dorkin in August 2004. An entrepreneur, web designer, real estate investor, and one-time realtor, Joshua was not satisfied by the online offerings of other real estate sites out there, and decided to build one himself. Mr. Dorkin's vision for BiggerPockets has helped to propel it into becoming one of the top real estate destinations online. His vision for the site and its future has brought national press attention to both Mr. Dorkin and to BiggerPockets.