Newbie trying to do deal analysis, I need a lot of help!

[Stephen Brown]

Hello BP!

My days in quarantine go like this: I hop on BP and Zillow and look at properties. I listen to podcasts. I look at a pro-forma but I'm not sure how to do the analysis part. I just feel like I am wasting precious time and I need some advice or some pointers in the right direction. What can I do next? I feel desperate.

My scenario is this: My father has a trust with me and my siblings. He told me that I can invest but only on his terms, which are invest in my town... which is not much of a rental town so I don't feel like I have a lot of info to work with. We live in a great school district with pretty expensive properties that don't typically meet the 1% rule, but some do. I see a lot of flips here. People that live here want to live here for the long run... not rent, but there are some houses being rented obviously. I have spoken with some landlords but I really haven't gotten much information from them as they either are not too experienced or they simply don't have the time to help me out.

 My father also does not want me to get pre-approved for lending yet (I would co-sign the approval with him) and told me we should wait a little while beforehand. He told me to estimate a 5-6% 15 year loan when doing my deal analysis. So my cash flow projections could be way off.

Rents in my area are sporadic for the type of property I am looking at, from $1000 to $2000.

My question is, with the limited knowledge I have, how I can estimate some of these items listed below? I just want to get to know what makes a deal a deal in my neighborhood. 

Some expenses that I am not sure about how to estimate...

Closing Costs - Where can I find prices on licenses and fees in my area?
Insurance - Who should I call besides fire and liability? 
Legal - What would this include?
Licenses - Found out last night that I don't need to pay a landlord license in my county, anything else?
Repairs and Maintenance - What should I put down here when property? For example, a house built in 1910 has 15% and maybe a house built in 1980 has 5%?
Real Estate Taxes - How do I project the increase of taxes?
Personal Property - Not sure where to find this
Other Taxes - What could be classified here?

Thank you to anyone who takes their time to help me. You don't know how much it means to me!

[Karl Kwok]

Hi @Stephen Brown, you (almost) read my mind! Bottom line - there’s a lot on Bigger Pockets that says run your numbers - my question is, where exactly does one get the numbers (maintenance costs, rent rolls, etc) without entering a contract??