More the better.2) Throw out the low and the high properties then take the average of the 3 or more in the middle and multiply by 90% (little buffer) to get the After Repaired Value (ARV)3) Now that you have the ARV you will need to work on the repairs.

Kyle Zaylor is correct in saying it's like herding cats, because there are so many different agencies, departments, professionals, tradespeople that have to be dealt with, and if you run into any environmental concerns, it multiplies.

This is particularly valuable, because by accessing the MLS, an agent can find what similar properties actually rented for, as opposed to the asking rent, as well as other useful statistics such as days on market (DOM).Once you've got a good estimate, multiply by 12 to get your hypothetical maximum income, or gross rent (this assumes no vacancy - yet).Now you've got to figure out expenses.

Obviously those are monthly rents and gross monthly incomes being multiplied.

Look around that area.As Mehran said, out of the gate you should probably be looking for a 4 unit.To start, add up how much rent a place brings in per month, and multiply that by 12.

If it's "Bad", then multiply $10/sf. by the square footage of the house, and there is your repair estimate.

# of Units32Rent per Unit$485Gross Rents$186,240Other Income$0Gross Potential Income (GPI)$186,240Vacancies Assume 10% vacancy rate $18,624Effective Gross Income (EGI) $167,616# of 4-Plex8Price/4-Plex$120,000Sales Price$960,000Acquisition Cost Assume 20% down pmt + 5% other$240,000Property ValueNOI/(Desired Cap Rate)$931,200Operating ExpensesRule of thumb is 50% of Gross Rents (assuming tenants pay utilities) $83,808Capital ExpensesUnknown (owner says 0$)$0Net Operating Income (NOI)EGI - Expenses$83,808Debt Services$75,396TaxesAssume 1.25% of property sale price $12,000Insurance Assume 1% of property sale price $9,600Net Cash Flow-$13,188Debt Coverage RationNOI/(Debt Services) 1.11Capitalization Rate (Cap Rate)NOI/(Sales Price) 9%Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM) 5Cash-on-Cash Return (CoC)(Net Cash Flow)/(Acquisition Cost) -5%

(Sidenote: Multiply by 12 to get annual NOI, then divide by purchase price to get the CAP RATE - another very important measure.)Separately from that, you have to consider what the debt load will be.

Find the marketing techniques that you have been successful on and multiply.

A general tool is Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM), not very precise but handy when doing a quick value assessment.