At the present rate of rent it is not within our budget to allocate the funds for this expenditure. 

Looking back, what business case do you really have to justify those expenditures?

This is the exact problem I've been having with these higher rates and the market overall - cash flow too small to be a LTR (or just fix the property up good to minimize capital expenditures) and accept the small cash-flow. 

Is this a Capital expenditure or an operating expense?

If the money is coming from the government (We the People), it won't raise the prices of houses because that expenditure is not coming from the builder, lender, or selling agent. 

My cost to operate using their current expenditures (which I have intentions to reduce) would be at $400,000 conservatively. 

Hi Jane,When you replace a roof, it typically counts as a capital expenditure (CapEx), which means it must be depreciated over time rather than deducted in full in the year you incur the expense.

While a percentage set aside for repairs and maintenance doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily have enough stashed away for this expense it would certainly lessen the blow of the expenditure.

The issue with doing this method is it takes more money up front for the renovations, you are buying older properties which may have more needed capital expenditures, and it takes more time and energy.

Without actually running numbers, you'll probably need to get closer to 600k to break even from a cash flow perspective (this all assumes 20% down).As others have said, you aren't considering saving for capital expenditures or vacancy and the maintenance is far below what I would budget.