How many months of rental income covers your annual tax bill?

[Sharad M.]

On multi-units, in my area it takes roughly 2 months of rental income to cover the annual tax bill. The numbers are worse for a SFH. What do the numbers look like in your area?

[David Beard]

I'm at about one month's rent. Pretty amazing the variability in the posts. Anywhere from 5% to 20% or more of gross rents. Just another reason to only use the 50% rule as a rough approximation, and to adjust it up or down for your area. In some cases, there is a high tax/mill rate, in others the county just refuses to revalue properties down to where they should be, not wanting to lose revenue.