@Chibuzor Alumba The blog post on Cash Flow and Cash on Cash Returns: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/06/14/how-to-calculate-cash-flow-rental/

@Jacob Graul @Ronny TiburcioAS much as everyone is saying read a certain book, the question is if you want to start flipping or renting. Flipping is different everywhere, rehab prices are different everywhere. I go 30 mins up north and already I am going to be paying x10 more, I can't even imagine if I was going to travel across the US. Now there is a common approach to REI but I wouldn't follow everything exactly word for word because any where you go the market changes and everything changes about the market and the rehab. When it comes to numbers of analyzing deals, the first thing to master is rehab cost and the only way to do that is to go and do it. No book, no forum, no podcast, no nothing can tell you about rehab costs because they vary so much everywhere. I just posted a discussion about foundation prices per sqft because I know all my prices except this one because it varies so much from job to job. What I would do is just go out there, meet investors that are flipping houses, and ask them if before they touch anything if you can go and do your numbers. They won' wait for you so as soon as they give you permission you and do it. I did that when I was first starting not too long ago and now I am a master at it. I know my crew and I know what I can get done for what price. I don't know much about rentals but I am sure it's just as variable as flipping analyzing is. I know a little bit about cap rates and estimating vacancy rates and incorporating that into the cap rate but I am not a pro at it as I don't buy and hold yet, but maybe soon I will.

If you are going to run the numbers, then you should run ALL the numbers IMO, and then combine them into an IRR analysis. Running just a few of the numbers and ignoring the others and calling it a complete analysis is not wise IMO. To review what I mean by ALL the numbers, the profit centers for REI are: 1)Cashflow (which changes over time, so do not assume it is constant) 2)Appreciation (both forced and market) 3)Mortgage pay down (through amortization) 4)Tax savings.

@Chibuzor Alumba https://www.amazon.com/Book-Flipping-Houses-Reside...

@Brandon Turner recently hosted a webinar on how to analyze deals. During the webinar, we analyzed a "real deal" using the calculators on BiggerPockets. You may want to become a PRO member so that you can practice analyzing deals. I've also noticed that a guy named J. Scott (find him on here, couldn't tag for some reason) posts a lot of forums about calculations-- IRR, cap rate, etc. Hope that helps!

There is also a blog post written on this site that walks you through deal analysis helping you identify what the cash flow and cash on cash return will be. It was really helpful (I'm new as well).

Bigger Pockets has a book which presents you with a formula and a in depth analysis on how to utilize it. The book is called "The book of flipping houses". It is also a great read by the way. i am reading it now. A lot of gems. @Jacob Graul

Jacob Graul I heard that in the tools section of the BiggerPockets site, there are several calculators you can use to analyze deals (You get to try them out a few times for free, but you have to become a pro member to use them more). See https://www.biggerpockets.com/calc for more information. Hope this helps

I think the reason that the calculator doesn't, and can't, take tax savings into account is because tax advantages are unique to each person. Someone that is in a low tax bracket doesn't have as much to gain from a tax write off as someone in a high bracket. Just my two cents, I'm not a CPA.