Property or deposit: how to compare with the calculators

The calculators page of this site is built around buying a property, not around deposits. It has no deposit calculator and no mortgage field. You can still use it to put a number on the property side and then compare that number with a deposit rate that you take from your bank. This guide describes what the page actually contains, as of October 2026, and a method that works with it.

What the page contains

There are four calculators.

Purchase cost. Inputs: property price in euro, transfer tax in percent, notary, registration and legal fees in euro. Result: the total purchase cost, with a chart showing how it splits.

Honest rental yield. This is the main one. You first choose a currency (EUR, PLN or USD). Then five groups of inputs: cost of entry (property price, purchase costs in percent, furnishing and setup), rent after vacancy (expected monthly rent, realistic occupancy in percent), operating costs per year (management fee as a percent of rent, service charge per month, insurance per year, repair reserve as a percent of rent, rental income tax in percent), the result block, and the exit scenario (price growth per year, holding period in years, selling costs in percent). Results: total invested at entry, gross annual income, total operating costs, net operating income, advertised yield, honest net yield, the gap between them in percentage points, payback in years, break-even occupancy, net sale proceeds, total return over the period and average annual return. The default values on the page are orientation values for Georgia, so replace them with your own.

Currency converter. Inputs: an amount and the currency to convert from and to (EUR, PLN, USD). It uses approximate built-in rates, not a live quote, so treat the result as an estimate.

Compare two properties. Inputs: price and monthly rent for property A and for property B, in euro. Result: the gross yield of each. It does not include costs or taxes.

Each calculator has an option to email yourself the result.

What the page does not do: it does not model a loan or interest payments, rent growth, inflation, compounding, or tax on the sale of the property. Keep these in mind and fill them in by hand.

Step-by-step method

Step one: write down what you would otherwise do with the money, for example "EUR 100,000 on a deposit at 3% gross, 20% tax on interest". The net rate is then 2.4%. Use the deposit rate you can actually get from your bank, not a promotional rate that ends after a few months.

Step two: find the purchase costs. Put the price, transfer tax, notary, registration and legal fees into Purchase cost. Divide the difference between the total and the price by the price to get the percentage, and enter that as the purchase costs percent in the honest yield calculator.

Step three: fill in the honest yield calculator with realistic numbers: the rent you could actually get, the occupancy you would actually achieve, the management fee even if you plan to self-manage (your time has a value), the service charge, insurance, repairs and your rental tax rate.

Step four: read the honest net yield and compare it with the net deposit rate. If the honest yield is below the deposit rate before you have even considered price growth, the property depends entirely on price growth and the exit.

Step five: fill in the exit scenario with the same horizon as the deposit, and use a modest price growth, then zero. Read the average annual return. It is a simplified figure: the total return divided by the amount invested and by the years, with all rent counted as if received at the end, so it is a simple average and not an IRR. To compare with a deposit, convert the deposit to the same basis: 100,000 at 2.4% compounded for 10 years grows by about 26.8%, which is about 2.7% a year as a simple average.

Step six: stress the result. Lower the occupancy, raise the costs, set price growth to zero, and raise the selling costs. Watch the break-even occupancy; if your market often runs below it, the purchase loses money in a weak year.

Step seven: add what the page leaves out. If you plan a mortgage, subtract the interest by hand. If a capital gains tax applies on a sale in your country, subtract it from the total return. Then see the hypothetical arithmetic in five, ten and twenty year scenarios.

A worked example

This example is hypothetical, with round numbers, and is not a forecast. Enter a price of 100,000, purchase costs of 5% and furnishing of 3,000: the total invested is 108,000. Enter a monthly rent of 500 and occupancy of 90%: gross annual income is 5,400. Enter a management fee of 10%, a service charge of 50 a month, insurance of 150 a year, a repair reserve of 5% and rental tax of 10%. Operating costs are 540 plus 600 plus 150 plus 270 plus 540, which is 2,100, so net operating income is 3,300 and the honest yield is about 3.1%. The advertised yield is 6,000 divided by 100,000, which is 6.0%, so the gap is about 2.9 percentage points. Payback is about 33 years. Break-even occupancy is about 17%.

With price growth of 2% a year, a 10-year hold and 3% selling costs, net sale proceeds are about 118,200. The total return is 3,300 times 10 plus 118,200 minus 108,000, about 43,200, and the average annual return is about 4.0%. Against about 2.7% for the deposit on the same basis, the flat looks ahead on paper, but the result depends on the price growth, which the honest yield alone does not support (3.1% is above 2.4% only modestly), and the flat is less liquid. With price growth of 0%, the sale proceeds are about 97,000 and the total return is about 22,000, an average of 2.0%, which is below the deposit.

Common input mistakes

Entering net rent instead of gross rent. The calculator deducts the costs itself; if you enter rent that is already net, the costs are counted twice.

Entering advertised or peak rent and 100% occupancy. Use a realistic occupancy, as the page itself advises.

Forgetting purchase costs, furnishing and the first-year setup. They are part of the capital invested.

Mixing monthly and yearly amounts. Service charge is per month and insurance is per year.

Counting the tax twice or not at all. Rental income tax is entered as a percent of gross rent in the calculator. Check the real rate and base for your status; see tax on foreign rental income for Polish residents or your tax office.

Comparing a pre-tax property with an after-tax deposit, or the reverse. Put both on the same basis.

Using the Compare two properties calculator as if it were net. It shows gross yield only.

Mixing currencies. Purchase cost and Compare use euro, while the honest yield calculator works in the currency you choose. The converter uses approximate rates; for large transfers see currency and payment for overseas buyers.

FAQ

Does the site have a deposit calculator? No. Take the deposit rate from your bank and compare it with the honest yield and the average annual return, as in the method above.

Can the calculators model a mortgage? No. Subtract the interest yourself, or see the hypothetical arithmetic in the scenarios article.

Is the average annual return an IRR? No. The page says it is simplified and does not account for rent arriving across the years.

Why are the default values for Georgia? The page states that they are orientation values; replace all of them with your own.

Can I send the result to myself? Yes, each calculator has an option to email the result after you give consent.

How we help

We are a trilingual platform that finds properties and coordinates independent local lawyers and tax advisers. The calculators and this text are general information with simplified assumptions, not legal, tax or investment advice; past performance does not guarantee future results. Verify current rates and rules with the relevant authorities and your own advisers.