1st rental Property Venice, FL

[Mike Scott-Smith]

Hello BP Landlord Community,

My wife and I are narrowing down our list of our 1st rental property.  Before we jump in with both feet and a checkbook I wanted some others to check my numbers and tell me if we are crazy or not. Keep in mind that we are looking at this as our first investment property.

We have 2 potential houses currently, both are in Venice, FL, 1 is a 1470 sqft 2/2 and the other is a 1388 sqft 3/2. The 3/2 is COMPLETELY remodeled and comes in at an asking price of $155 per sqft ($214,000), while the larger home is coming in at $149 per sqft ($219,000).

As part of my research I have put the following numbers together. I have started my estimate with the highest numbers. I will not go into either deal at that price point, rather I have included them as part of my personal visualization. Note that the down payment numbers include the estimated closing costs, the mortgage rates are based on 4.25%,and in order to make this 1st deal happen my wife and I need to use funds from the vast amount of equity that we have available in our current home. Mortgage estimate includes taxes and insurance.

Purchase Price	Down Payment	Mortgaged	Mortgage	HomeEq	Annual Mort Total	Pest Control Monthly	AC Maint Monthly	Total Monthly Expenses	Sq Ft	Estimated Rent	Left Over
$215,000.00	$53,000.00	$162,000.00	$1,129.00	$212.00	$16,092.00	$29.17	$10.00	$1,380.17	1,388	$1,600.00	$219.83
$210,000.00	$52,000.00	$158,000.00	$1,109.00	$207.00	$15,792.00	$29.17	$10.00	$1,355.17	1,388	$1,600.00	$244.83
$205,000.00	$51,000.00	$154,000.00	$1,090.00	$202.00	$15,504.00	$29.17	$10.00	$1,331.17	1,388	$1,600.00	$268.83
$200,000.00	$50,000.00	$150,000.00	$1,070.00	$197.00	$15,204.00	$29.17	$10.00	$1,306.17	1,388	$1,600.00	$293.83
$195,000.00	$49,000.00	$146,000.00	$1,050.00	$192.00	$14,904.00	$29.17	$10.00	$1,281.17	1,388	$1,600.00	$318.83
$190,000.00	$48,000.00	$142,000.00	$1,031.00	$187.00	$14,616.00	$29.17	$10.00	$1,257.17	1,388	$1,600.00	$342.83

I plan on taking all cash flow for the first 12 months and depositing into a account to have reserves. After the initial 12 months I will review where we are and re-adjust to insure that we have monthly additions for vacancy, maint/repairs and the like.
I have included 2 items in my estimate that we will cover, pest control (a MUST in FL) and A/C maintenance.  As a new landlord, what other items might I consider in the expenses monthly?

I am curious if it is typical for landlords to include water, electric etc in the rate. Are there other items that I should consider. I am very interested to gain thoughts from others as to what your thoughts are on the numbers themselves. Do they work?? The rent @ $1600 is a conservative estimate based on what my research is showing so far.