Your Rental Collects $2,000 a Month. How Much Do You Actually Keep?
Oct 28, 2026
By Anthony Price
The rent is $2,000. The loan payment is $1,100. That leaves $900 for you, right?
Not so fast. The house has more bills than the loan.
Before you call that $900 profit, account for the costs you pay now and the money you need for later.
Start with rent you expect to collect
The rent in the lease is the starting point. It is not a promise that every month will be paid in full and on time.
A property can sit empty between tenants. A tenant can miss a payment. Use a reasonable allowance based on the property and local information, not a rule copied from a random deal.
Keep security deposits separate from rent you can spend. They may need to be held and returned under local rules.
List the regular bills
Write down the costs the owner pays:
- Loan principal and interest.
- Property taxes and insurance.
- Management fees, if you use a manager.
- Owner-paid utilities, lawn care or other services.
- HOA dues, if there are any.
- Routine repairs and maintenance.
Check what is already included in the loan payment. If taxes and insurance are collected with it, do not count them twice.
Read the manager’s fee schedule, too. A monthly percentage may not include leasing, renewal or other charges.
Set money aside for the bigger bills
A roof does not send you a bill every month. That does not make it free.
Plan for larger replacements, such as a roof, heating system or appliances. Also plan for work between tenants: cleaning, paint, repairs and any time without rent.
Setting money aside is different from spending it that month. But it is still money you should not treat as ready to take home.
Walk through a simple example
These numbers are made up for one month of planning. They are not a forecast or a recommended budget for every rental.
Start with $2,000 in expected monthly rent. Then allow for:
- $1,100 loan principal and interest.
- $180 property taxes.
- $100 insurance.
- $160 management.
- $100 for empty months or missed rent.
- $100 for routine repairs.
- $120 set aside for larger replacements.
- $40 other owner-paid costs.
Those amounts total $1,900. That leaves $100 a month before income taxes, using these assumptions.
This example assumes taxes and insurance are not already inside the $1,100 loan payment. Your statement may work differently.
The result is a planning number. Actual cash in your account will change as rent arrives and bills are paid. Some months may look better. A large repair can make another month much worse.
Test one thing going wrong
Suppose the lease rent is $1,850 instead of $2,000, while all the planned costs and allowances stay the same. The result becomes negative $50 a month.
Or suppose a repair costs more than the amount you saved. Where will that money come from?
You are not trying to predict every problem. You are checking whether the deal has enough room for normal changes—and whether you have cash ready when a bill arrives.
Cash flow and taxable profit are different
For cash planning, count the full loan payment because that money leaves your account. But paying down loan principal is not an operating expense. Tax calculations also treat some repairs and improvements differently.
The IRS rental property guide explains the tax rules. Keep your records and have a tax professional help you work out what applies. Do not use this simple cash budget as your tax return.
Review the actual numbers each month
Compare your plan with rent collected, bills paid and money set aside. Ask about charges you do not recognize. Track repairs that are still open.
If a cost keeps coming in higher than planned, update the plan. A spreadsheet is only useful if it reflects what is happening.
A resource for rental owners
The Rental Purchase and Ownership Toolkit includes manager questions, repair and owner-review tools, plus the Deal Analyzer. It can help you organize both the numbers and the work that comes with owning the property.
Common question
Is a rental with $100 a month left over a good deal?
That number alone is not enough. Look at the cash you must invest, repair risks, your reserves and the work required. Check whether the small amount left over is worth those costs and risks to you.