Cambodia Rental Yield and Airbnb Calculator: Check Cambodian Property Rental Returns
How to Check the Rental Yield on a Cambodian Property Before You Buy ?
You have found a condo you like. The agent says it will rent easily, maybe even do well on Airbnb, and everything sounds fine while you are talking. Then you sit down on your own and realise you are not sure which costs to subtract, or whether letting it long-term or short-term makes more sense for you. That gap is what our Rental Yield and Airbnb Calculator is for: https://www.luxepropertycambodia.com/property-tools/cambodia-rental-yield-airbnb-calculator
What the calculator does
Put in a property price and the rent you expect, and it shows what the property could earn each year as a share of what you paid. That share is the rental yield. What makes the tool useful is that you do not get one number to believe. It compares six investment strategies side by side, covering long-term and short-term rentals, Airbnb returns, a property you look after yourself and one that Luxe Property Cambodia manages for you.
It is a planning estimate. It cannot tell you what one particular property will earn, but it can show you which way of renting is worth asking more questions about.
What to enter
You need the price, the rent or nightly income you honestly expect, and your running costs. Use your own numbers, not ours and not the figure in a sales brochure. If you do not have a rent figure yet, look at what similar places near the one you are considering are actually letting for, or ask a local agent to show you real examples.
The most common mistake is typing in the best month you have ever heard about. Use an ordinary month. If the result still looks good, it is more likely to hold up.
How to read the result
Yield is the money left after costs over a year, compared with the price you paid. Pay attention to the gap between what comes in and what reaches your account, because that gap is where most disappointment lives.
Fees are a big part of it. Our management fee is 10% of monthly rent for long-term rentals and 18% for short-term rentals. When we manage an Airbnb property, the fee is 10% for both long and short stays. Airbnb also currently charges most hosts a 15.5% platform fee, on top of any management fee. A higher gross income from short stays has to be big enough to cover those percentages, plus cleaning, utilities and the nights nobody books.
Which strategy suits which owner
Long-term letting usually means fewer moving parts. You find a tenant, the rent arrives monthly, and there are no guest changeovers. Short-term and Airbnb letting can bring in more in a good month, but someone has to handle bookings, pricing, cleaning and reviews, whether that is you or a manager.
Neither is better by default. It depends on where the property is, how much time you have and how much variation in income you can live with. The calculator lets you see the difference on your own numbers instead of guessing.
A worked example
Mark lives overseas and is thinking about a condo in Siem Reap. He cannot easily be there to meet tenants or hand over keys, so he wants to know whether short stays are worth the extra effort. Here are round numbers, used only as an illustration.
Say the condo costs $120,000 and could be let long-term for $600 a month. That is $7,200 a year. With a 10% management fee of $720, he is left with $6,480 before other costs, which is 5.4% of the price.
Now say the same condo brings in $1,000 in a good month from Airbnb guests. The 15.5% platform fee takes $155, leaving $845 before any management fee, cleaning, utilities or empty nights. Whether that beats the long-term figure depends on how many months look like the good one.
If Mark looked after the condo himself, the management fee would disappear from the sum, but his time and any trips back to Siem Reap would not. That is why the calculator compares self-managed and managed strategies. He can change the price, the rent and his own costs and watch the comparison move, instead of relying on one figure from a brochure.
Things people overlook
Buying costs belong in your price. Property transfer tax is 4%, and annual property tax is 0.1% of the assessed value. If you are buying a new build from a developer, 10% VAT can apply, so check whether it is already included in the price you were quoted. Leave these out and every yield you calculate will look better than it is.
Empty periods catch people out too. So do furnishing, repairs, and the value of your own time if you plan to manage the place yourself.
Foreign buyers should look at ownership alongside yield. Foreigners can own strata-titled condo units above the ground floor directly. For houses, villas and land, we arrange ownership through our land and property holding services, using registered, legally documented structures. The right structure is confirmed with a qualified Cambodian lawyer on each purchase, and we recommend hard title.
What to do next
Run two or three properties through the calculator and compare the results. Write down the rent you assumed, so you can check it against real listings later. Then talk to us. We can go through the numbers with you, tell you what we would change, and explain what managing the property would involve.
The calculator gives a guide only. For a real decision, we or a qualified adviser can confirm the details. You can try it here: https://www.luxepropertycambodia.com/property-tools/cambodia-rental-yield-airbnb-calculator
FAQ:
Q) What is a good rental yield in Cambodia?
A) We would be wary of anyone who gives you one number without seeing the property. A good yield depends on the price you pay, the location, how the property is let and the costs you carry. Use the calculator to compare options for the same property, then check your rent assumption against real listings.
Q) Do Airbnb fees reduce the return?
A) Yes. Airbnb currently charges most hosts a 15.5% platform fee, on top of any management fee. That comes out of your income before you count cleaning and running costs, so it needs to be in any short-term figure you rely on.
Q) Is the calculator free to use?
A) Yes, it is free to use. It is a planning guide, so treat the result as a starting point for questions rather than a promise of what you will earn.
Q) Can foreigners buy a rental property in Cambodia?
A) Yes. Foreigners can own strata-titled condo units above the ground floor directly. For houses, villas and land, we arrange ownership through our land and property holding services. A qualified Cambodian lawyer confirms the right structure on each purchase, and we recommend hard title.
Want a second pair of eyes on your numbers? WhatsApp or call us on 093341333, email Contact@luxecambodia.com, or use our contact page: https://www.luxepropertycambodia.com/contact.
