The 3 numbers that tells if a rental is actually healthy-most landlords only check 1

Most landlords judge a property by whether the bank account is positive at the end of the month. That's a start, but it misses problems that build slowly and then hit all at once. Here's the quick 3-number check I run on any property, mine or someone else's:

🟢 Net cash flow — Rent minus every expense including debt service. Positive is the floor, not the goal. If a property is running below -$1,000/mo consistently, that's an immediate-review flag, not a "wait and see."

🟡 DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) — NOI ÷ annual debt service. This is the number lenders care about, and it's the one that quietly craters even when cash flow looks okay, because NOI excludes debt service and cash flow doesn't.

• Above 1.20 = healthy
• 1.00–1.19 = watch it, don't add more debt against this property
• Below 1.00 = the property literally isn't covering its own mortgage

🔴 Repairs as % of gross rent — Add up 12 months of repair/maintenance spend, divide by 12 months of rent collected.

• Under 10% = normal wear and tear
• 12–20% = yellow flag, something's degrading faster than expected
• Above 20% = you're not maintaining the property anymore, you're funding deferred maintenance out of pocket

The reason to run all three instead of just eyeballing cash flow: a property can pass on cash flow and still be quietly failing on DSCR or repairs %, and you won't notice until you try to refinance or the roof goes.

Curious what thresholds other people use, especially on the repairs % side — feels like it varies a lot by property age and market.