Expensive vs Average vs Cheap rental property purchase woes...

[William Huston]

Hello All, 

Just reaching out to see if the experiences I have been having for the past 10 years seem pretty similar to others or its just my luck. 

Currently, I own the following rentals...

355k property, gated and deeded neighborhood, cash flow only $85/month, but returning 16k/yr on the mortgage. In 3 years I have had the same tenants, absolutely no issues or repairs called to fixed on the property other than a/c needed to be repaired once. They have actually technically improved the property by pulling out the old shrubs and improving the landscaping on the property greatly. Most minor repairs they have just fixed themselves and just notified me they had someone fixing it and never asked for anything in return for the repair.

235k Property, Average deeded neighborhood, cash flow only $285/month, but returning 11k/yr on the mortgage. In 6 years, I have had to find new tenants 3 times, spent roughly 3k in repairs between tenants leaving, occasionally complain about things, but maybe $500/yr in repairs. 

205k Property, Average deeded neighborhood, cash flow only $210/month, but returning 10k/yr on the mortgage. In 9 years, I have had to find new tenants 7 times, spent roughly 8k in repairs between tenants leaving, occasionally complain about things, but maybe $800/yr in repairs.

125k Property, Average non-deeded neighborhood, cash flow only $500/month, but returning 4500/yr on the mortgage. In 10 years, I have had to find new tenants 9 times, had an eviction, property trashed 2 times and disappearing requiring more than 5k in repairs, constantly hit with repairs due to things magically breaking so often or wearing out. Just overall seems like renters are harder on the property and cost me more money in the end than its worth...

Just seems like the higher up the rental cost/month chain I purchase properties, I get renters who damage the property less and complain far less about things. The lower the property rental cost, I get a higher ratio of people to cause wear and tear on the property that basically offsets the higher cashflow I receive.

Example: 

My most expensive rental 4/3/2 is just an older couple in their 50s with no children, the occasional visit from kid maybe once a year.

My middle expense rentals are both 3/2/2 with small families with a single child

My cheaper rental is a 3/2/2 with families always having 2-3 children and occasional pets.