What is investment-property cash flow?+
Cash flow is the money that actually moves in and out of your pocket each year: rent received minus vacancy, operating expenses, loan interest, principal repayments and fees. The analyser shows it three ways — operating cash flow before finance, cash flow after interest, and the actual cash contribution after full repayments — because each answers a different question.
What is the difference between pre-tax and after-tax cash flow?+
Pre-tax cash flow is the raw cash position before any tax effect. After-tax cash flow adds the estimated tax impact of the property: a deductible rental loss can reduce tax payable, while a rental profit adds to it. The after-tax figure is an estimate only and depends on each owner’s marginal rate and the property’s negative-gearing treatment.
Why are principal repayments excluded from taxable income?+
Principal repayments reduce your loan balance — they build equity rather than being an expense of earning rent. Tax law only allows deductions for costs of producing income, such as interest, so a property can be cash-flow negative (because of principal) while showing a taxable profit.
What happens when negative-gearing losses cannot offset salary income?+
Under the restricted treatment modelled for some established properties, a net rental loss cannot reduce salary or business income in the year it arises. It first offsets positive income from other residential property, and any remainder is quarantined and carried forward to future years. The analyser never counts a carried-forward loss as cash received.
What is a carried-forward residential-property loss?+
It is a rental loss that could not be used this year and is stored for the future — it may offset future residential-property income or, in some cases, a future capital gain. It has potential future value but provides no cash relief today, which is why the analyser shows it separately from cash flow.
What is the difference between gross and net rental yield?+
Gross yield is annual rent divided by the purchase price — quick but flattering. Net yield uses vacancy-adjusted rent minus operating expenses, divided by the total acquisition cost including duty and purchase costs. Net yield is always lower and is the more honest measure of what the asset earns.
How do lenders assess rental income?+
Most lenders only credit a portion of rent — commonly around 75–80% — to allow for vacancy and costs. This is called rental shading. The portfolio view applies an illustrative shading so you can see the gap between actual rent and a lender’s view, but every lender’s policy differs.
Does the tool calculate borrowing capacity?+
No. This is a deal-analysis and education tool, not a lender servicing calculator. Lenders apply their own assessment rates, expense benchmarks and policies. For a borrowing-capacity conversation, request a broker review with your report.
How accurate is the stamp-duty estimate?+
Victorian transfer duty is estimated automatically from published general rates for investment purchases. For other states and territories the analyser asks you to enter the duty figure from your state revenue office calculator. All government charges must be confirmed before exchange — rates, concessions and surcharges change.
What happens when interest-only repayments expire?+
When an interest-only period ends, the loan reverts to principal-and-interest over the remaining term — a shorter period than the original loan, so repayments step up, often by 20–40%. The analyser models this cliff for every split and includes an interest-only expiry stress test.
Does the calculator provide financial or tax advice?+
No. Everything is general information and an estimate based on the assumptions you enter — it is not financial, tax, legal, property or credit advice. Confirm tax treatment with a registered tax agent and duty with the relevant revenue office. Azure Home Loans (ACR 538895, authorised under ACL 390261) can discuss the finance side with you.
How is this different from the Investor Hub playground?+
The Investor Hub playground is for quick repayment and yield exploration. The Investor Deal Analyser is the deeper tool: full purchase-cost modelling, up to four loan splits, restricted negative-gearing treatment, scenario stress tests, a ten-year projection, portfolio impact and a branded PDF report. Use the playground to explore; use the analyser when you have a specific deal to pressure-test.
What is the Azure Investor Deal Analyser?+
The Azure Investor Deal Analyser is a free educational Australian investment-property cash-flow model. It runs six steps — property, purchase costs, finance splits, income and expenses, tax and depreciation, results — and returns three cash-flow views, stress tests, a ten-year projection and an optional PDF report. It is not a lender approval, borrowing-capacity check or tax advice; outputs are estimates based on the inputs entered. Provided by Azure Home Loans (ACR 538895, authorised under ACL 390261).
How long does the deal analyser take?+
Most investors complete the six steps in about five minutes. Progress is saved in the browser for seven days so you can pause and return on the same device — nothing is submitted or stored on the server unless you request the PDF report.
What data does the Deal Analyser store?+
Calculations are kept in your browser only, expire after seven days and can be cleared at any time. Personal details such as name, email and mobile are only collected on the report request form, are used to send the PDF and follow up if broker review is requested, and are never sold. No customer PDF is stored on the server.
Which Australian states does automatic stamp duty support?+
Victoria only, using published general rates for investment purchases. For NSW, QLD, SA, WA, ACT, TAS and NT the analyser asks you to enter the transfer-duty figure from that state or territory’s revenue-office calculator. All government charges should be confirmed with the relevant revenue office before signing a contract.
Is the Deal Analyser suitable for SMSF residential property purchases?+
The core cash-flow, loan-split and expense modelling still applies, but SMSF (LRBA) purchases have additional rules on lender policy, structure and tax that this tool does not model in full. Use the result as a starting point and discuss the structure with your accountant or SMSF specialist before making a decision.