A good general contractor, flooring contractor, landscaper, HVAC, etc. and I use a property manager to manage all the properties.  

In addition, if you can buy a property under market, or with an opportunity to add value (even if it's just paint and landscaping), you then have the ability to give your investing a boost when you either raise the rents because you have a higher class property and/or pull out some equity to invest in another property.  

I also own a third of a 3-bedroom near University Park/Westchester, and a third of a lot (same area) that is currently being rented out to a landscaping business.I plan to see my condo out until I own it outright and am currently looking into buying a potential final-family home in South Miami, Dadeland, or Pinecrest.

Now when we look at the surface items (flooring, kitchens, paint, lawn care, etc that is pretty easy to replace but that tenants habitually destroy) vs the items that really matter and can suck up a lot of funds (electrical, bathroom, landscaping, etc.).  

I live 30 minutes by train from Madison Square Garden.  

And then the rest of it open space with park like landscaping.

On an investment in a condo or co-op, what numbers are you using to calculate Cap-Ex and Maintenance in situations where HOA fees cover external items like the roof, building exterior, foundation, landscaping, etc.?  

@Andrew ElmasriBelow market rents - get the rent roll from the broker/seller and compare it to rentometer.com and your study of the market rent for that property and locationOvergrown or not maintained landscaping - easy to spotDeferred maintenance on the exterior facade - easy to spotNo online presence or marketing (word of mouth or signage only) - google search for the property...see if vacant (or not vacant) units are marketed (usually on hotpads, trulia, zillow, web site, and many other sites where landlords market.  

And certain landscaping issues are hard to do in winter too.  

Tax (listing claims ~$5900 annual, ~3%)$20 - Landscaping/Snow$284 - Vacancy (8%)$284 - Repairs (8%)$355 - CapEx (10%)$426 - Prop.