The Des Moines metro · first rental

Will it cash flow, or just feel like it will?

Every line a lender looks at — vacancy, taxes, the reserve you'll wish you'd kept — against this week's rate and the county's own figures for the house you're circling.

Run the numbers

30-yr fixed this week 6.76% · investor loans about half a point above

A curving suburban street of two-storey houses in Urbandale, Iowa
A resale street in Urbandale, northwest of Des Moines.Lynn Betts, USDA NRCS · Public domain
30-yr fixed
6.76%▲ 0.05
Freddie Mac PMMS · week of Sep 10
15-yr fixed
6.09%▲ 0.05
Freddie Mac PMMS · week of Sep 10
Metro home prices, y/y
+2.3%
FHFA index, Des Moines–West Des Moines · Q2 2026
Iowa housing permits
1,512▲ 55.4% y/y
Census Bureau, private units · Jul 2026

Live via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and the Polk County Assessor’s recorded sales · refreshed every six hours

The deal

Rate starts at this week's 6.76% plus 0.5 for an investor loan. Taxes at 1.55% of price, insurance $1,500/yr, 8% maintenance reserve, 10% management unless you self-manage, 2.5% closing, $4,000 make-ready. Give an address and the county's assessed value and taxes replace the estimates.

Cash flow / mo
−$131
Cash-on-cash
-2.3%
DSCR
0.89
Cap rate
5.5%
Rent
$1,950
Vacancy
5% — about 3 weeks empty a year
−$98
Property tax
1.55% of price
−$304
Insurance
landlord policy
−$125
Maintenance reserve
8% of rent
−$156
Management
10% of rent
−$195
Mortgage (P&I)
$176,250 at 7.26%
−$1,204
Cash in at closing
$68,625
Not at this price.

You'd be paying $131 a month to own it, and a 0.89 debt-cover means most lenders won't finance it as a rental at all.

It needs $2,120 a month to break even. Check that against what this street actually rents for, and if it comes up short, keep looking — a metro with 1,500 permits a month has others.

Run it on the actual address

Assessed value, this year's taxes, year built, and the last recorded sale — from the county, for the property you're looking at.

When

Sending looks the address up in the county record and shares the ledger with one investor-friendly agent, one lender and one property manager. How that works.

Three numbers

The listing shows you the price. These show you the property.

  1. Cash-on-cash

    What the money you put in earns, per year.

    Cash flow after every cost and the mortgage, divided by down payment plus closing plus make-ready. Under 5% you're buying a savings account with a roof. Over 8% in this metro, look for what you've missed.

  2. DSCR

    Whether a lender will touch it.

    Net operating income divided by the mortgage payment. Most investor lenders want 1.20 or better; at 1.00 the rent just covers the note and nothing else. This is the number that decides financing.

  3. Break-even rent

    The rent at which you make nothing.

    If the street's real rents come in below it, the photos stop mattering. It is the fastest way to tell an investment from a wish.

Aerial view of new housing developments west of Des Moines
The west side, from the air. Every one of these was a decision to build.Lynn Betts, USDA NRCS · Public domain
Where the numbers come from

Assumptions you can see beat assumptions you can't.

Rate
Freddie Mac's weekly survey via the St. Louis Fed, plus half a point for an investor loan. Adjustable on the page.
Taxes
An effective Polk County rate on the price until you give an address; then the county's own assessed value and levy.
Rent
Yours to set — the page won't guess a street's rent for you. Break-even rent tells you what it has to be.
Reserves
5% vacancy, 8% maintenance, 10% management. Every one of them is what a lender's underwriter will assume, whether you do or not.
Parcel
Assessed value, year built, lot, last recorded sale — Polk County Assessor, for the address you give.
Asked, answered

A rental property calculator answers six questions. Here they are.

How does a rental property calculator work?
It takes the purchase price, the down payment, the rent and the rate, then subtracts what a lender subtracts: vacancy (5%), maintenance (8% of rent), management (10%, or zero if you self-manage), property tax at Polk County's effective rate (about 1.55%), and insurance. What's left after the mortgage payment is the cash flow. This one also reports cap rate, cash-on-cash return, DSCR and the break-even rent, and pulls the county's record for the address you're looking at.
What is a good cash-on-cash return on a first rental?
Cash-on-cash is the year's cash flow divided by the cash you put in — down payment, closing costs and make-ready. Most investors in the metro want 6% or better before they call a deal a deal; between 0% and 6% it's thin, which usually means the price is high for the rent or the rent is low for the price. The ledger marks the line at 6%.
What DSCR do lenders want on an investment property?
DSCR — debt service coverage ratio — is net operating income divided by the mortgage payment. Most investor lenders want 1.20 to 1.25 or better: the property earns at least a fifth more than the loan costs. Below 1.0 the rent doesn't cover the mortgage and the loan usually doesn't happen. The ledger shows the ratio and the rent that would get you to 1.2.
What does buying your first rental property cost up front in the Des Moines metro?
At $235,000 — a sensible first-rental price here — 25% down is $58,750, closing runs about 2.5%, and you'll want a make-ready reserve. Call it $68,625 in. Investor loans price about 0.5 points above owner-occupied, so at this week's 6.76% the all-in rate is about 7.26%.
Is a rental property calculator the same as a rental income calculator?
No. A rental income calculator tells you the gross — rent times twelve. A rental property calculator tells you the net: what's left after vacancy, repairs, management, taxes, insurance and the mortgage. The gross number makes every deal look good; the net one is what the bank and your own account see.
Where in the metro do first rentals pencil?
Where the price per square foot is lowest relative to rent. Over the last twelve months the median recorded sale ran $190 a square foot in Des Moines and $224 in Ankeny. The city pages on this site show the lower-quartile price — where first rentals actually get bought — for each city, and preset the ledger to it.
From the wire · renting in the metro
Google News · “Des Moines rental market” · refreshed hourly
  1. RentRedi is the Best Property Management Software in 2026, According to Independent Market IntelligenceThe Des Moines Register · 27d ago
  2. With rental registries, cities try to track housing and hold bad actors accountableStateline · 7 months ago
  3. Predicting the 25 hottest-selling real estate markets in 2026: 2 are in WisconsinWBAY · 10 months ago
  4. The most and least affordable metro areas for renters in 2024Investorsobserver · 11 months ago
  5. Realtor Discovers Spot Where Past Owner ‘Melted Into The Floor’ During Renovation (Exclusive)People.com · 12 months ago
By city

The entry point, city by city.

Each city page shows the lower-quartile price — where first rentals actually get bought — from recorded sales, and presets the ledger to it.

Median recorded sale and price per square foot, last twelve months · Polk County Assessor

When the numbers clear the bar

Three people, one ledger, no cold starts.

An agent →

One who works with investors and will tell you what that street actually rents for.

A lender →

Investor-loan terms, DSCR-based when it helps, pre-approval before you tour.

A manager →

If you'd rather not take the 2 a.m. call. They see the reserve line before they quote.