Some contractors have insurance, some are 1 man band with no overhead, quality of work factors into cost, level of finishes.We created a calculator for our clients to use here in Chicago, specific to our renovation pricing, but even that is just a guess based on some assumptions.If you can find a quality general contractor, pay them like @Bruce Woodruff mentioned, and it will make your life so much easier...you may eat into some of your profits, but being able to rinse and repeat with someone you trust is priceless!

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

It looks at first glance like your annual and monthly payment are way off on this calculator for a 5.9% interest loan on 630k your monthly payment would be something more like 3.7k not 1k per month.

As far as plugging in numbers and ensuring you're doing so correctly I recommend using the calculators on BP as a starting point.

Naturally we push the limit to the point that the Housing Specialist might request a small adjustment to meet the calculations. 

Be calculated and look for good deals.

It's not a passive job (regardless of what the IRS says).Everyone honestly should be running and creating their own calculators - why people invest tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars and then rely on someone elses (or better yet - pay for someone elses) calculator blows my mind. these are simple calculations for 90% of landlords.

You now know your cash flow and what you can take out.Investors' problems sometimes include not budgeting correctly for repairs and maintenance and not factoring in a set amount that they will be contributing to their reserve account for CapEx (if you have CapEx repairs coming up sooner than later, put away more money into reserves now).To summarize, factor in all expenses and your monthly deposit into your reserve account before calculating your monthly cash flow.

Test drive the tech products - part of the BP pro membership is access to our amazing tools like Market Finder, Deal Finder, Rental Calculators, etc.

Have you calculated the monthly appreciation on the CA home you sold?