How do you use the property investment score?
- Enter the price, pick the property type, and enter the monthly rent and yearly running costs (maintenance, property tax, repairs).
- Enter the price growth you want to test and how many years you would hold. Growth is your assumption; nobody knows it in advance.
- Open “Adjust rates, selling costs and benchmark” to add the yearly return you could get elsewhere, selling costs and a yearly rent rise.
- Read the yearly return after all costs and, if you set a benchmark, how it compares and what growth it needs.
What is the investment score?
It is the yearly return on the money you put in, after stamp duty and registration, running costs and selling costs. Technically it is the internal rate of return (IRR): the yearly rate at which the rent and the sale proceeds exactly pay back what you put in. It lets you compare a property with a fixed deposit, a fund or another property on the same footing.
How it is worked out
Price + stamp duty, cess, surcharge and registrationRent × 12 − running costs (rent rises by your rate)Price × (1 + growth)^years − selling costsThe rate at which the yearly amounts and the sale pay back the money inThe return leaves out a home loan, tax on rent and capital gains tax. To see the return with a home loan, use the property return with a loan calculator; for tax, ask your CA.
Worked example: ₹ 1 Cr flat let at ₹ 25,000 a month
Money in is ₹ 1,07,60,000 including ₹ 7,60,000 of charges. Rent of ₹ 3 L a year less ₹ 60,000 of costs leaves ₹ 2.4 L, a 2.4% yield. If prices grow 6% a year, the flat sells for ₹ 1,79,08,477 after 10 years, less ₹ 2 L of selling costs. Profit is ₹ 93,48,477 and the yearly return is 6.9%.
Against a 9% return elsewhere it falls short by 2.1 points; prices would need to grow 8.2% a year to match it.
Worked example: ₹ 45 L first-sale flat
The first sale of a flat at ₹ 45 L pays 3% stamp duty, so charges are ₹ 2,41,200 and money in is ₹ 47,41,200. Let at ₹ 14,000 a month with ₹ 30,000 of yearly costs, the yield after costs is 3.1%. At 6% growth over 10 years with ₹ 1 L of selling costs, the yearly return is 7.7%.
How much do growth and holding period matter?
| Price growth | 5 years | 10 years | 15 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% a year | 0.5% | 1.4% | 1.7% |
| 3% a year | 3.3% | 4.1% | 4.3% |
| 6% a year | 6.2% | 6.9% | 7.0% |
| 9% a year | 9.1% | 9.7% | 9.8% |
Stamp duty and selling costs weigh more on a short hold, which is why the same growth gives a lower return over five years.
What stamp duty and registration apply in Bengaluru?
On a sale deed in Bengaluru, Karnataka charges 5% stamp duty on the market value (Karnataka Stamp Act, Schedule Art. 20(1)), a 10% cess on the duty (s.3B) and, inside the Greater Bengaluru Area, a 2% surcharge on the duty (Greater Bengaluru Governance Act 2024, s.170). The registration fee is 2% (IGR notification of 29 Aug 2025, in force from 31 Aug 2025). Together that is 7.6% of the value. The first sale of a flat pays less duty: 2% up to ₹ 20 L and 3% above ₹ 20 L up to ₹ 45 L, so the total is 4.24% or 5.36%. Resale flats, plots and houses pay 5% at any price. Rates verified 18 Oct 2026 · confirm on Kaveri Online before registering.
What does the score leave out?
- Months when the flat is empty. Lower the rent to allow for them, or use the property cash flow calculator.
- A home loan, tax on rent and capital gains tax. Ask your CA about tax.
- Location, builder and title. See the property risk assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Related answers and guides
- Builder Track Record: Real Estate Investment Consultant
- Pre-Launch EOI Risk: Real Estate Investment Consultant View
- Commercial vs Residential Property Investment: What Changes
- Cheap vs Expensive Homes: When Each Is a Bad Investment
Sources
- Stamp duty 5% (Schedule Art. 20(1)), first-sale flat slabs (Art. 20(2A)) and 10% cess (s.3B): Karnataka Stamp Act 1957, consolidated copy (DPAL); ₹ 35–45 L slab: Karnataka Stamp (Amendment) Act 2021.
- 2% surcharge on duty in the Greater Bengaluru Area: Greater Bengaluru Governance Act 2024, s.170.
- Registration fee 2%: IGR Karnataka, Table of Registration Fees (Notification RD/46/MNMU/2025) and IGR press note, 29 Aug 2025.
- Rates verified 18 Oct 2026 · confirm on Kaveri Online before registering.
- Return: internal rate of return on yearly amounts. Rent, costs, growth, selling costs and benchmark: your inputs.
Indicative figures from the numbers you enter, not a forecast or advice to invest. For tax questions, indicative only. Please verify with your Chartered Accountant before acting.
Weighing an investment property in Bengaluru? Talk to an acre&key advisor.