Analysis for Good Buy (Duplex, House Hacking) in AZ

[Arin H.]

Property: $145k - Duplex (50% occupancy right now) (Zillow)

Rent: Found the ad for unoccupied rental at $550/unit so expected income of $1100 per month (Link to Ad)

Costs: Estimated from FHA scenario (at asking price, could also assume a hypothetical price)

^ Is the above calculator a good judgement of costs?

 When I am ready to invest in real estate, I want to be able to get a better understanding of how to determine by analysis what defines a good deal. How would you determine if this property could generate positive cashflow or "rent free" on a hypothetical purchasing price through a house hacking strategy?

I did some reading through this article as well but assume there is more costs I am missing from the above calculated costs. (Article)

[Matt Morgan]

The Zillow calculator you used is just fine to estimate your mortgage payment. A better idea would be to download one of the rental property analysis spreadsheets from the File Place and use that to input all of your expenses. With an FHA loan, you'd be left with $114/month to pay for maintenance, utilities and any property management. In other words, that property would not cash-flow.

For future analysis, add up your expenses (debt service, taxes, insurance, vacancy, maintenance, utilities, property management) and subtract that number from your expected rent.