Resources to estimate expenses (Insurance, taxes, util etc.)

[Sebastian Riera]

Hi all, 

I've been evaluating properties & attempting to determine the viability of keeping them on as full time vacation rentals. My confidence in the projected revenues is pretty high since my employer has access to quite a bit of data on rates and occupancy. 

The challenge is finding estimates for all the costs involved. 

-Taxes (not too hard, there are plenty of tools online to estimate by ZIP and property value http://www.fizber.com/propertytax/)

-Utilities ( I've been making assumptions based on # of beds, regional climate, heated pool etc)

-Insurance ( No idea. beachfront flood risk, state to state requirements, construction style all seem to be factors) 

-Maintenance ( % of property value?) 

What methods/resources do you guys use to determine what a realistic operating cost would look like? 

Thank you!

[Michele Fischer]

And we call the utility companies to get the power and water-sewer-garbage.  If you provide the address they can tell you what the past average has been.

Taxes should be quite easy.

5% for maintenance should be a good starting point.