What's the cutoff for your small multifamilies?

[Pat Jackson]

I realize there's no wrong answer here......but some folks may have a more right answer than others!

I don't own any small multifamlies (2-4 units), but I'd like to soon.  Through listening to 135+ podcasts and reading 100's of forum posts, here's what I'm looking for, how about you?

• 10% vacancy (I think this is conservative)
• 10% property management (realistic)
• 4% tenant placement and lease renewal (my property management company charges 1/2 a months rent to place a tenant, and 1/4 a months rent to renew a lease, so this is based on a tenant staying an average of 2 years)
• 10% repairs (conservative?)
• Taxes
• 5% capex (is it a bad idea to just say 15% for repairs and capex?)
• Utilities depending on the building.  I'm conceptually a fan of not paying any utilities, but in the market I'm exploring it's pretty common for the owner to pay water, sewer, trash, and lawn care.  Billing back utlities seems like a bad idea, turns tenants off/away.  This number can really vary but I make sure to capture what the current owner demonstrates they're paying.
• Insurance.  I don't overinsure, but I don't get a quote for the bare minimum either.
• I realize there are other variables that are harder to quantify, like neighborhood, status of building, how recently has it been updated, etc. I don't want a neighborhood worse than B-/maybe c+, recent updates are an obvious bonus, and I don't plan on buying anything that needs immediate capex costs like a roof, unless there's a deep discount.  
• Finance 100% of the purchase price.  I realize you can't just do this, but I want to see what it pays 100% financed.  I always plan on paying closing costs out of pocket.

After all of these expenses, I still want to see $100 a door.  Is this crazy?  I'd take a little more if it was a newer building (less maintenance, more likely to have utilities metered out), and/or in a better area (better tenants, less turnover, less trashing of units). 

Love to hear everyone's thoughts.