DFW Analytics Model - Revenue / Expense Assumptions

[Jacob D.]

Hi All - I am a newbie in the learning / education accumulation phase. My strategy is likely going to be buy and hold single family homes in FW area to rent out. I am looking at homes online on a daily basis, but right now I have zero'd in on a few zip codes that I believe that 1% of rent to purchase price is pretty attainable (but I'd like to approach 1.1% or more if possible). Obviously the higher the better and it all depends on the specific deal. I'd also like to catch the market in the fall/winter as it seems like sometimes the market isn't quite as hot and it might be easier to grab deals then -not sure if this is a correct assumption?

As a part of my preparation for the purchase of my first investment property (shooting for next 9-18 months) I still have a lot of work left to do as far as research on the legal side of things, landlord/tenant contracts, owner financing options, etc. etc. 

But I am also working to tweak my Excel model so that I can plug in numbers and be ready to go QUICKLY - once I find deals that may work for me. I am hoping to get some guidance on my current revenue/expense assumptions:

Rent / Purchase Price -> 1.0% to 1.1% (model set-up for varying ranges)

Vacancy Rate -> 0 to 10% (model set-up for varying ranges)

 Property Tax -> ~2.5% (looking at Tarrant County property site for reference)

Insurance -> ~0.9% (based on my personal residence)

Property Mgmt. -> 0 to 10% (model set-up for varying ranges; I can minimize my managing myself, but cost is still my time)

Maintenance & Repairs -> ~10% (rough guess - 5% for maintenance and 5% for cap-ex improvements)

$500 for other misc per year

Am I missing anything? Any other suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated. From my research, it seems like it's probably pretty common in DFW area to have tenants do lawn-care, but I'd probably need to cover items like pest control, HVAC check-ups etc.

Also I am seeing mortgage rates for investment properties ~ 5.75% to 6%. Any other ideas on minimizing the interest rate? And what's the going rate for private money if I decide to go down that route and try to engage other investors.

Learning every day and I LOVE IT!