1st Purchase solely for rental

[Matthew Jones]

I'm looking to sign a contract on a property next week. This will be my first rental property solely for rental purposes. I have one rental which was a primary residence, and we became landlords when we needed to move but couldn't sale the house in a depressed market.  I have grown to love my rental property.

The seller is a personal friend who rented his property after seeing how much I liked my rental. He and his wife needed to move and couldn't sell the house. The current renters are retired and using their retirement funds to rent the property. The renters take pride in the house and have done some minor landscape upgrades.  

House Particulars

Purchase: $142,000

Insurance: $2,034 /yr

Previous Property Tax: $1034/yr

HOA: $55/mo

Rent: $1400

Down: 20%

Funding: personal funds + 20k loan from in-laws heloc

Year: 1985

Floors: 2

Br: 3

Ba: 2.5

Kitchen: Granite countertops

Covered Carport, no garage

Wood burning fireplace

Foundation: Slab

Roof - New in 2015

Public Schools: Excellent 9/10 

I'm estimating a 5% vacancy (although hope to be lower since the current tenants seem extremely stable), and 8% repairs. 

House is part of a large Golf community, and renters can pay $15/mo for access to community pool, tennis courts, golf course discount, horse stables, yacht club.

My wife and I are engineers and max our 401k's. I'm considering dropping contributions to quickly pay off the 20k loan from in-law. 

Thanks for the advice. 

Matthew G. Jones