Actual Rental Expenses

[Tyler D.]

Hey BP,

I'm a newer investor looking to scale up, and something that seems to be throwing off my calculations are expenses that don't seem to match reality. Currently, I use the following numbers:

1) 10% Vacancy

2) 10% Maintenance

3) 5% CAPEX

4) 8-10% PM

5) Actual insurance and maintenance

My issue comes with when I am comparing properties at different price points. For example, I can compare 4 cheaper houses that rent for $500 each to 1 more expensive house that rents for $2000.

According to my numbers, the maintenance of both sets of properties would be the same. Of course, that isn't true, as the former has 4 roofs, 4x the amount of toilets, sinks, heaters, etc.

This leads to cheaper houses appearing on paper to be a better investment when they might actually not be. 

Do you have any numbers/ estimates you use to more accurately find the costs of maintenance, capex, etc?