A first rental in Pleasant Hill: the numbers.
A quarter of Pleasant Hill sales in the last twelve months closed under $270,000; the median was $324,000 at $214 a square foot. At $270,000, the rent has to clear about $2,150 a month before a lender calls it a deal. Run it against this week’s rate before you run it past anyone else.
Where the entry point is.
Source: Polk County Assessor, recorded residential sales, twelve months to 2026-07-26 — arm’s-length sales between $100,000 and $2,000,000 of homes between 800 and 6,000 square feet. Reloaded weekly from the assessor’s public bulk exports. School districts in the sample: Southeast Polk (87), Des Moines (30).
Live via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and the Polk County Assessor’s recorded sales · refreshed every six hours
Rate starts at this week's 7.24% 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. Estimates, not quotes. A lender's loan estimate replaces the rate the moment you have one.
- Rent
- $2,150
- Vacancy5% — about 3 weeks empty a year
- −$108
- Property tax1.55% of price
- −$349
- Insurancelandlord policy
- −$125
- Maintenance reserve8% of rent
- −$172
- Management10% of rent
- −$215
- Mortgage (P&I)$202,500 at 7.74%
- −$1,449
- Cash in at closing
- $78,250
You'd be paying $268 a month to own it, and a 0.82 debt-cover means most lenders won't finance it as a rental at all.
It needs $2,498 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.
The listing shows you the price. These show you the property.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
Three people, one ledger, no cold starts.
One who works with investors and will tell you what that street actually rents for.
Investor-loan terms, DSCR-based when it helps, pre-approval before you tour.
If you'd rather not take the 2 a.m. call. They see the reserve line before they quote.