Privy's Long-Term Rental engine has been completely rebuilt. Every rental result now shows a confidence signal, a rent and return range, and a plain-language explanation of the call. Comps are tiered by quality. The calculator now includes CapEx Reserve, HOA, monthly cash flow, and multi-year returns with IRR.
This article covers everything that changed. If you prefer a guided walkthrough with video clips, take the full mini course below.
The New LTR Filter
Start with Long Term Rentals
Select Long Term Rentals from the MLS Deals bar at the top. That puts you in LTR mode — the search now analyzes active listings against rental comps, not sale comps. Sold status is automatically disabled in LTR mode. That is expected behavior.
Pick your Deal Type
Choose which return metric to screen on:
Cap Rate — net operating income as a percentage of purchase price. Use this when comparing deals independent of how you are financing them.
Cash-on-Cash — your annual cash return as a percentage of cash invested, after financing and expenses. The right metric if you are putting a loan on the property.
Effective Gross Yield — annual gross rent divided by purchase price. A faster, pre-expense read. Useful for a quick first pass before diving into the full expense model.
Enter a threshold (for example, Cap Rate 5%+). The search returns properties where the estimated return meets that bar at some point in the range.
Filter by Investment Outlook
Toggle on the confidence levels you want to see:
Likely (green checkmark) — returns meet your threshold and the comp evidence supports the estimate cleanly. Highest confidence.
Possible (amber warning) — returns meet your threshold only at the high end of the range, or the comp evidence is mixed. The system is telling you what to verify, not telling you to walk away.
Stretch (red warning) — returns fall below your threshold and/or comp evidence is thin. This is where diamonds in the rough and high-end markets live. Do not skip it.
Important framing: Possible and Stretch are not worse deals. They are deals where the system is being honest about what it knows. Never filter to Likely only and call it good.
Reading the Property Box
The two range bars
Every LTR property card shows two range bars — Monthly Rent Range and a Return Metric Range (Cap Rate, Cash-on-Cash, or Effective Gross Yield, depending on your filter). Each shows Low, Mid, and High points.
Read the spread, not just the midpoint. A tight range means the comps are consistent and the estimate is solid. A wide range means the data is thinner and the outcome is less certain.
The Outlook badge
Likely (green checkmark) — returns meet target, comps support it cleanly.
Possible (amber warning) — deal meets target only at the high end, or evidence is mixed. The system tells you exactly what to verify.
Stretch (red warning) — returns below target and/or evidence is thin. Where opportunity lives for investors willing to dig.
The assessment label
Each property carries a plain-language label combining outlook and evidence strength. These labels also appear in the calculator header as you model the deal.
Likely: Strong Deal / Good Opportunity
Possible: Promising Deal / Worth a Look / Caution
Stretch: Tight Margins / Challenging Deal / High Risk
Investor Notes — reasons and cautions
Every property card shows Investor Notes with green reason comments and amber caution comments. A property can show both at the same time — that is not a red flag. It is the system being precise about exactly what it knows and what it doesn't.
Reason comments (what is supporting the estimate):
Multiple similar homes are renting at this level
Nearby rentals support this estimate
Supported by same-building rental comps
Based on similar property types in the area
Caution comments (what to verify before you act):
Few highly comparable rentals found
Rental outcomes vary
Rental comps are older or less comparable
Based on a single comparable rental
Estimate depends on high-end rent outliers
The CMA — Rental Comps and Evidence Tiers
The evidence behind the Outlook
When you open the CMA on a rental property and click to the Rentals tab, you are looking at the actual comparables the platform used to build the estimate on the property card. This is where you inspect the evidence behind the Outlook.
Two types of rental comps appear:
Rentals — active rental listings showing asking rent and days listed. Shows you what the market is asking right now.
Deal Evidence (D badge) — properties where investors have already bought and rented. Shows you what they actually achieved. Weighted more heavily because they reflect real outcomes, not asking prices.
Evidence tier badges
Every comp carries an evidence tier badge. Returns and evidence both matter — a great projected return with thin comps gets pulled down.
Direct (D) — strongest match. Same building, same type, close in size and proximity. Several Direct comps at target return = Likely.
Strong Support (SS) — high-quality match, close but not identical in size, distance, or year built. Mix of D and SS at target = Likely or Possible.
Support (S) — useful comp with meaningful differences. Estimate leaning on S comps = Possible or Stretch.
How to evaluate a Possible deal in the CMA
Check the evidence tier column. Are Direct comps at the top, or is the estimate leaning on Support tier?
Check the Distance column. Close comps carry more weight than distant ones regardless of tier label.
Check the Sq Ft column. If comps are meaningfully larger or smaller, look for the Adj Rent* figure — the system's size-adjusted estimate for what your property would rent for.
Check the Filled date. That is when the listing was marked off-market — in practice, when it got rented. A recently filled comp is stronger evidence than one filled a year ago. Pair with Listed date and DOM to see how fast the rental was absorbed. A comp that leased in 10 days tells a very different story than one that sat for 90.
Cross-reference with the caution note on the property card. The CMA lets you see exactly what triggered it.
A Possible deal with three Direct comps, recent Filled dates, and consistent rents is very different from a Possible where the only Direct comp is two years old and the rest are Support tier. The CMA lets you see that difference.
The Rebuilt LTR Calculator
How to open it
Click Edit Assumptions on any LTR property card or in the CMA's Long Term Rental panel. The calculator updates all metrics live as you adjust assumptions — it is a deal-tuning tool, not just a math display. The Outlook label in the header updates live as you model.
What is new in the expense model
Two expenses missing from the old model are now built in by default:
CapEx Reserve (new) — the money you set aside for major repairs and replacements: roofs, HVAC, appliances. The old model left this out, making cap rates look better than they actually were. Most investors model 5%.
Monthly HOA (new) — matters most on condos and townhomes where dues significantly affect cash flow and cap rate. The old system often made condo deals look better than they were because HOA was not in the math.
Full expense line items: Property Taxes, Insurance, Property Management, Repairs & Maintenance, CapEx Reserve, Miscellaneous Utilities, Monthly HOA. All editable as dollar amounts or percentages. Edits save per property. Hit Reset to restore platform-generated defaults.
The four Year-1 tiles
Click any tile to see the formula behind it. Adjust any assumption and all four update instantly.
Effective Gross Yield — annual gross rent divided by purchase price. Quick pre-expense screen.
Cap Rate — net operating income divided by purchase price (now includes CapEx and HOA). Best for comparing deals independent of financing.
Cash-on-Cash — annual cash return divided by cash invested, after all expenses and debt service. Use this when you are financing the purchase.
Monthly Cash Flow — what is left after every expense and mortgage payment each month. Tells you if the property pays you or costs you.
Multi-year returns
Below the Year-1 tiles is the Estimated Multi-Year Returns section.
Inputs:
Hold Period — how many years you plan to own the property
Appreciation % — pre-filled from local historical data (5/10/20/30-year windows); override if needed
Rent Growth % — your assumption for annual rent increases
Expense Growth % — your assumption for annual cost increases
Outputs:
Total Return ($) — total dollar return over the hold period
Annualized Return (%) — average annual return across the hold
IRR — Internal Rate of Return. Accounts for the timing of cash flows across the full hold period. The number sophisticated investors use to compare deals across different hold periods on an apples-to-apples basis.
Check Model sale at end of hold period to include projected sale proceeds in the return calculation. Leave it unchecked to model cash flow return only. Try both on the same deal to see how much of your return depends on appreciation versus income.
Take the Full Mini Course
This article covers all the key concepts. If you want a guided walkthrough with video clips of the actual UI, the full mini course takes about 10 minutes and covers everything above in order.
Questions? Chat with us anytime using the support bubble in your Privy account, or email [email protected]. Free live training runs every Thursday at 1pm EST.