Is 50% Rule too Conservative for SFH?

[Eric John]

Looking at next property purchase. I'm looking at methods of analysis. 50% rule specifically. It seems a bit over conservative for SFH. I could certainly understand it to be useful for multi-family. I rented my house for several years and the expenses were nowhere near 50% of rent each month, plus I had long term tenets. Thanks in advance for your input.

[Watson Smith]

50% is just an average. In the life of the property you are going to have good/bad years.  You could have 5 great years where nothing happens followed by 2 horrible tenants, a roof replacement, refridge goes out and a large water leak that the tenant didn't report.  Once you average all years together it'll come close to 50%... But it's just a rule of thumb.