Net yield
Yield after stripping out running costs - the honest return number.
Net yield is the rental return after subtracting all the running costs of holding the property - council rates, water, insurance, property management fees, strata or body corporate levies, repairs and maintenance, vacancy allowance, and land tax. The result, divided by the property value, gives a much more honest picture of what the property earns on its own (before financing and tax). A property with a 5% gross yield commonly produces a 3-3.5% net yield once you strip those costs out. Net yield is the metric investors should compare across properties because it removes the noise of different cost structures (high-strata vs no-strata, regional vs city, new vs old).
Worked example
On the same $500,000 property with $26,000 gross rent: subtract $7,000 of running costs to get $19,000 net. Net yield = 19,000 / 500,000 = 3.8%.
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