Faro Labs / Markets / Des Moines, IA
Des Moines real estate investment market
What a typical rental in Des Moines, Iowa costs, rents for, and returns: underwritten by Faro's own engine, not a scraped summary.
Returns assume 20% down at 6.75% over 30 years, 7% vacancy, and standard operating costs: Faro's default assumptions, the same ones every report starts from. Home value and rent trends as of 2026-05-31.
Difficult for both
At market rent, a typical Des Moines rental runs $468 short each month, and home values moved 0.3% over the last year. Neither leg is carrying deals right now, which means the ones that work here are bought well below market rather than at it.
The price a deal actually works at
Faro models five price points for Des Moines, from a weak buy to a strong one. The market-rate deal is $212,479; a good buy is $191,231 and a great one $169,983 roughly 20% below market value. Those are the bars a specific listing gets measured against when you run it.
How Des Moines compares
Of the 210 markets Faro publishes, Des Moines is the 188th most expensive to buy into: 47% below the median covered market, and the 78th strongest on rent-to-price. Within Iowa it's the 2nd priciest of 2 markets we cover. On the last year of home-value change it ranks 86th.
To break even at the default financing, a typical Des Moines property would need about $1,733 a month in rent: $578 more than the $1,155 the market currently supports.
What each tier costs in Des Moines
Faro models five price points per market. A listing gets measured against these bars, not against a national average.
| Tier | Purchase price | Market rent | vs. market rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weak buy | $233,727 | $1,097/mo | +10% |
| Fair buy | $223,103 | $1,132/mo | +5% |
| Market rate | $212,479 | $1,155/mo | — |
| Good buy | $191,231 | $1,213/mo | -10% |
| Great buy | $169,983 | $1,270/mo | -20% |
A typical Des Moines deal, underwritten
The market-rate property above, run through the same engine every Faro report uses.
| Purchase price | $212,479 |
|---|---|
| Monthly rent | $1,155 |
| Cash required (20% down + 3% closing) | $48,870 |
| Net operating income | $7,615/yr |
| Monthly cash flow | -$468 |
| Cap rate | 3.6% |
| Cash-on-cash return | −11.5% |
| DSCR | 0.58 |
One of the cheapest ways in
At $212,479, a typical Des Moines property costs 46.5% less than the median market Faro covers: 188th most expensive of 210. Cash required at 20% down plus closing is about $48,870, which is what makes markets like this the usual starting point for a first rental. The trade is management: a cheap property is not a cheap property to run, and the fixed costs, a roof, a furnace, a turnover, are the same dollars against a much smaller rent.
What it would take to break even
A typical Des Moines property would need about $1,733 a month to cover itself at the default financing: 50% above the $1,155 the market currently supports. That gap is the honest size of the problem: it isn't closed by trimming an expense line, it's closed by buying meaningfully below market, putting more down, or finding a property that rents well above its market's median.
Negotiation matters more than usual here
The gap between a market-rate Des Moines buy at $212,479 and a strong one at $169,983 is 20%: a wide band. In markets with a spread that size, what you pay relative to comps drives the return more than the market's own direction does. Two buyers in the same city, the same month, can end up with completely different deals.
Des Moines investor questions
Is Des Moines a good place to buy rental property?
A typical Des Moines rental at $212,479 renting for $1,155 a month returns 3.6% on a cap-rate basis and runs short by $468 a month at 20% down. Individual deals vary far more than markets do, which is the whole reason to underwrite a specific address.
Can you cash-flow a rental in Des Moines?
Not at the market's own price and rent. A typical property runs $468 short each month. It would need about $1,733 in rent to break even. Deals that work here are bought below market rather than at it, which is what the price ladder above is for.
How much do you need to buy a rental in Des Moines?
About $48,870 at 20% down plus 3% closing on a typical $212,479 property: one of the lower entry points among the 210 markets covered here.
Are rents going up in Des Moines?
Rents moved up 1.5% over the last year, measured across 8 ZIP codes. The typical market-rate rental sits at $1,155 a month.
Other Iowa markets
Run the numbers yourself
A market average is not a deal.
Paste a real Des Moines listing and Faro underwrites that specific property from its own comps, with a target price you can actually offer.
Estimates for analysis and educational use only: not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Verify every number independently before making a purchase decision.