How PulseReal calculates every number
PulseReal is built so you can check our work. These are the rules we hold ourselves to:
Every number names its source and the date its data was last refreshed.
Formulas are written out, so you can rebuild any figure in a spreadsheet.
Revenue estimates come with a conservative and an optimistic case, and the conservative case is the default view.
We publish how accurate our forecasts turned out to be, including when they miss.
See how our price forecasts have performed on the forecast accuracy page.
Default assumptions
Every report starts from these and you can change any of them. Tax and insurance are recalculated for each listing's location, price and flood, wind and fire risk.
Down payment: 25%
Typical investor loan minimumInterest rate: 7.25%
PulseReal default for investor and DSCR loans; enter your quoteLoan term: 30 years
Standard 30-year termClosing costs: 3.0% of price
Typical buyer closing costs, 2 to 4% of priceProperty tax: $2,970/yr on a $300k home
National effective rate 0.90% (Tax Foundation 2023), +10% for no homestead exemption, on the purchase priceInsurance: $1,980/yr on a $300k home
State average premium adjusted for FEMA hazard risk, landlord policy. Get a quote.HOA: $0/mo
No HOA listed; check the disclosureVacancy: 6% of rent
PulseReal default, about three weeks a yearMaintenance: 8% of income
Share of rent for repairsCapital reserves: 5% of income
Share of rent reserved for roof, HVAC and appliancesManagement (long-term): 8% of collected rent
Typical property manager fee for long-term rentalsCo-host (short-term): 20% of revenue
Typical short-term rental co-host or manager feeCleaning (short-term): 12% of revenue
Cleaning and turnover, share of revenueSupplies and platform fees: 3% of revenue
Supplies, toiletries and platform fees, share of revenueUtilities (short-term): $550/mo
PulseReal default by bedroom countTarget DSCR: 1.25
Typical DSCR lender minimum for best pricingLong-term rentals
Buy-and-hold numbers, after every operating cost a landlord actually pays.
Estimated monthly rent
Rent for comparable units in the same ZIP and city, adjusted for bedrooms, bathrooms and size.
Range: conservative case is 90% of the estimate, optimistic case 105%. Asking rents in listing data run a few percent above signed leases, so the conservative case takes 10% off and the optimistic case adds 5%.
Cap rate (long-term)
Net operating income ÷ purchase price. NOI is a year of rent less vacancy, property tax, landlord insurance, HOA, maintenance, capital reserves and management. Financing is not included.
Its range follows from the range on Estimated monthly rent, holding fixed costs constant.
Cash-on-cash return (long-term)
A year of cash flow after the mortgage payment ÷ the cash you put in (down payment plus closing costs).
Its range follows from the range on Estimated monthly rent, holding fixed costs constant.
Monthly cash flow (long-term)
Monthly rent less every operating expense and the mortgage payment.
Its range follows from the range on Estimated monthly rent, holding fixed costs constant.
Debt service coverage ratio
Net operating income ÷ annual mortgage payments. Most DSCR lenders require at least 1.0, and 1.25 or more for their best rates.
Its range follows from the range on Estimated monthly rent, holding fixed costs constant.
Short-term rentals
Airbnb and VRBO estimates, shown as a range because the market average is rarely what a new host earns.
Estimated annual revenue (short-term)
Average nightly rate × nights booked in a year, for comparable short-term rentals in the city. Cleaning fees paid by guests are not counted as income; cleaning is deducted as a cost.
Range: conservative case is 75% of the estimate, optimistic case 110%. Short-term rental estimates across the industry tend to run 20 to 50% above what new hosts earn in year one, so the conservative case uses 75% of the market estimate.
Occupancy
Share of available nights booked across comparable short-term rentals over the last 12 months.
Range: conservative case is 85% of the estimate, optimistic case 105%. New listings usually book below market average while they build reviews.
Average daily rate
Average nightly price paid across comparable short-term rentals over the last 12 months.
Range: conservative case is 90% of the estimate, optimistic case 105%. Rates vary with season, size and finish; the range covers typical spread.
Cap rate (short-term)
Net operating income ÷ purchase price. NOI is annual revenue less co-host fees, cleaning, supplies and platform fees, utilities, maintenance, capital reserves, short-term rental insurance, property tax and HOA.
Its range follows from the range on Estimated annual revenue (short-term), holding fixed costs constant.
Cash-on-cash return (short-term)
A year of cash flow after the mortgage payment ÷ the cash you put in (down payment plus closing costs).
Its range follows from the range on Estimated annual revenue (short-term), holding fixed costs constant.
Monthly cash flow (short-term)
Monthly revenue less every operating expense and the mortgage payment.
Its range follows from the range on Estimated annual revenue (short-term), holding fixed costs constant.
Markets
City-level prices and forecasts.
Median sale price
Median price of homes sold in the city over the most recent reported month.
Projected appreciation
Average of three forecasts of the city median sale price (ARIMA, random forest and Prophet) trained on Redfin monthly history.
Scores
How we rank cities and ZIP codes.
Pulse Score
Weighted blend of five sub-scores: regulatory 25%, financial 25%, demand 20%, demographic 15% and risk 15%. When a sub-score is missing the others are reweighted. Grades: A at 75 and above, B 60 to 74, C 35 to 59, D below 35.
