01
Return measures · 9 minute guide
Read guide Gross yield, cap rate and cash-on-cash return are not substitutes
Which return measure belongs at each stage of a rental-property decision?
RentMarker Guides
Use the evidence without pretending it says more.
These guides connect definitions to RentMarker’s current research, show what each measure leaves out, and route the reader to a practical next step.
- Published guides
- 13
- Universal winners
- 0
Start with the question
A decision library, organized by the evidence you need
Choose the problem first. Every article keeps source periods, counter-signals and property-level limits visible rather than manufacturing one universal winner.
Foundations
Definitions and workflows that keep unlike measures from becoming one misleading answer.
02
Rent evidence · 10 minute guide
Read guide Zillow ZORI, HUD FMR and ACS rent answer different questions
Which public rent measure should you use for market screening, program context or resident reality?
03
Decision workflow · 11 minute guide
Read guide How to compare rental markets without inventing one universal winner
How do you move from two market profiles to a defensible shortlist?
Demand and affordability
Household resources, mover flows, wages and burden behind the asking-rent market.
04
Rent benchmarks · 12 minute guide
Read guide How to tell whether a market rent is expensive, typical or simply different
What should you compare a market rent with before calling it high or low?
06
Affordability pressure · 13 minute guide
Read guide When rent growth outruns income, affordability becomes part of the investment case
How should a reader interpret rent growth that has moved faster than household income?
08
Regional purchasing power · 12 minute guide
Read guide Cost of living and rent are related, but they do not measure the same burden
How can regional price levels improve a rent and income comparison?
09
Household movement · 13 minute guide
Read guide How migration changes rental demand—and why mover income matters
What can tax-return migration reveal about the depth and spending power of incoming demand?
10
Household resilience · 13 minute guide
Read guide How to measure renter cost burden without hiding the income distribution
Why does one metro-wide burden rate miss the households most exposed to housing costs?
11
Wage support · 13 minute guide
Read guide Can local wages support the rent? Read occupations before trusting an average salary
How broad is the pool of local occupations that can carry a market rent?
Supply and momentum
How permits, housing values and measured history change the next research question.
05
Price direction · 12 minute guide
Read guide How to read rent growth and home-value growth without chasing the fastest line
What does it mean when rents and home values move at different speeds?
07
Supply pressure · 14 minute guide
Read guide How housing supply and building permits change a rental-market thesis
Which supply signals help explain whether recent rent growth can persist?
12
Market momentum · 12 minute guide
Read guide Rental-market momentum is a pattern of signals, not a single growth number
How can a reader distinguish durable direction from a dramatic historical move?
Returns and risk
Keep market opportunity visible beside the evidence that can make it fragile.
13
Risk-adjusted screening · 14 minute guide
Read guide How to compare rental yield with climate risk without subtracting unlike percentages
How should gross yield and expected annual loss share the same decision frame?
A reading contract
Definition first. Trade-off second. Property last.
- 01Name the measure
Geography, unit coverage and period determine what a number can support.
- 02Keep counter-signals visible
A promising measure does not erase supply, labor, migration or risk.
- 03Move to a real deal
Market evidence narrows the search; property income and costs decide the underwriting.