Average rental expenses per year per property

[Rob Gribben]

I have two rental properties in Baltimore, both are rowhomes, one in the city, and one in the county.  I was looking at rental expenses (excluding taxes and insurance) for the past 4 years (2011-2014) on both houses to try and compile some useful data on estimated maintenance costs per year.  Interestingly enough, the 4 year cost for one was $6,202 and for the other $6,252, so between the two houses, the average cost per year is $1,557/year. 

I was wondering if others have any useful data to share. I would say minimum of 4 years of data is needed in order to estimate what one can expect to pay as an "annual" cost for rental expenses. I plan to hold properties for at least 10 years after purchase, so I project ROI based on holding the property for 10 years. Obviously, a huge variable in the projection is the maintenance/rental expenses.