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Income Waterfall

Calculates effective gross income for a rental property by walking gross potential rent down through vacancy, loss to lease, credit loss, and concessions, then adding other income. Inputs include unit count, market rent, vacancy and credit loss percentages, loss to lease, concessions, and other income, with presets for stabilized, lease-up, and stressed properties.

By Devon Coombs, CPA, MBA · Teaching Professor of Finance, Santa Clara University · Reviewed August 2026

From the author: Devon Coombs, CPA, MBA teaches finance at Santa Clara University and works with corporate teams on practical AI.

AI training for finance teams · Consulting · The 10 Laws of Finance

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Income Waterfall Calculator

Try an illustrative scenario

This model starts with every unit at market rent for a full year. Vacancy and credit loss are each a percentage of that same gross potential rent. Enter loss to lease, concessions, and other income as annual dollars; count each loss only once. These assumptions are teaching examples, not typical market rates.

Starting from actual contract rents instead? Do not subtract loss to lease again. Refundable deposits, tenant improvements, and leasing commissions do not belong in rent concessions.

Inputs

Number of units
Market rent ($/unit/mo)
Vacancy (% of GPR)
Loss to lease (annual)
Credit loss (% of GPR)
Concessions (annual)
Other income (annual)

Waterfall

Gross Potential Rent

100 units × $2,000/mo × 12

$2,400,000

Physical Vacancy

4.0% of GPR

−$96,000

Loss to Lease

Below-market contract rents

−$60,000

Credit Loss

1.5% of GPR

−$36,000

Concessions

Free rent / move-in specials

−$100,000

Other Income

Parking, RUBS, pet rent, storage

+$120,000

Effective Gross Income

Net rental revenue + other income; before expenses

$2,228,000

Revenue Loss

−$292,000

12.2% of GPR

Final EGI

$2,228,000

92.8% of GPR

Per Unit / Month

$1,857

EGI, including other income

EGI is property revenue. Deduct operating expenses to reach NOI; debt service and capital spending come later.

Learn the concept

This calculator comes from the free Real Estate Finance course, where the concept is taught with readings, worked examples, and practice questions.

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When to use this measure

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Built by Devon Coombs, CPA, MBA, Teaching Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University.