The numbers should work out if I price those items correctly AND not everyone takes advantage of it.

Quote from @Dario De Pasquale: Hi everyone,I am a small STR investor and in the past few years I have been investing in both stocks and real estatewith COC returns of about 20% for the past 3 years.I am considering diversifying my portfolio with LTR and I know that returns there are going to be a lot smaller.So I was curious to know if there was a rough formula that could include mortgage paydown, tax advantages, and estimated appreciationto be able to compare apples with apples.I am only familiar with Cashflow, CoC, Cap Ex, and IRR.Personally I look beyond those items when I invest in real estate.

Separately, I use apartments.com to collect rent, security deposits, bills, etc - also free for you as the landlord and the tenant.Third - to write off items for taxes, I'd check with your CPA but in general, it would be anything you spend money on with that property, including mileage going there.Best of luck!

Water bills are up 50% to 100%, electric bills are up 33% and gas bills are up 30%, and of course tax bills are up and new bills for new items are created. 

I once gave a tenant $100 after their fridge quit and food spoiled.

The house is fully furnished, but none of our valuable items are in it.

You also learn from every quote you get, and always ask for a breakdown of labor and materials or further itemization (you might not get it every time). 

If it's not housing, food, or transportation, don't spend a dime on it.

.- Read and utilize the appendix items from Brandon Turner's Book on Managing Rental Properties.

Inflation- still have plenty of hard assets and development land sites, to ride any high inflation moves.Let me know if you recommend any changes/adds to the above action items.