Cashflow-negative: the weekly number you must know before signing
Most NZ rentals bought today cost their owner money every week. Fine — if you chose the number. Ruinous — if it chose you.
What negative cashflow means in dollars
Rent minus mortgage, rates, insurance, management and maintenance allowance = your weekly position. At 2026 rates a typical 65%-LVR purchase in a main centre lands between −$150 and −$450/wk. That's the subscription fee you pay to hold the growth bet — and it must come from income you can rely on.
Break-even rent: your margin of safety
The rent at which you'd hit zero tells you how exposed you are to softening rents or vacancy. If market rent is $620 and your break-even is $780, you're not 'nearly there' — you're underwater by an amount growth must repay before you see a dollar. Conversely, break-even below market rent is the quiet green flag.
Stress tests decide survivability
Model +1% and +2% on your refix. If −$250/wk becomes −$520/wk and that number breaks your household budget, the market's next rate cycle owns you, not the reverse. The 5-year IRR under low growth matters more than the 10-year under optimistic growth — you have to survive the first refix to collect the second decade.
Make it a decision, not a hope
Deal Analyser computes your weekly position, break-even rent, stress scenarios and IRR from the actual deal's numbers — arithmetic done in code, never estimated by AI — and then tells you honestly whether the deal bleeds. First analysis free.
Got a deal in front of you?
Paste the numbers and get the full ladder — cashflow, break-even rent, rate stress, 10-year IRR under three growth scenarios — computed exactly, with an honest verdict. First analysis free.
Analyse my deal →FAQ
Is the weekly top-up tax deductible?
Interest deductibility rules have been restored for residential investment — but deductions soften the top-up, they don't erase it. Model after-tax cashflow, not brochure cashflow.
What if I can rent it as a boarding situation or Airbnb for more?
Different income model, different risk stack (regulation, vacancy volatility, management load). Run both scenarios as separate deals rather than using the optimistic one to justify the purchase.
How do I get my exact weekly number?
Ten inputs into Deal Analyser — price, rent, deposit, rates, insurance — and it's computed with the stress tests attached. First one free.
General information, not legal advice for your specific situation.
More NZ property tools: NZ Property Evaluator · Reno ROI · NZ Tenancy Answers · Staged.studio