If you want to underwrite a deal conservatively, you should in theory look at the average short-term rental income and occupancy rather than the top, especially if you're starting out.

The average person should be able to read a law/code/statute and understand what actions are illegal for him/her to perform.

Listings are selling for roughly 95% of their list price on average.

It isn't about what the tenant should do, its about getting a better than average outcome for a given situation for yourself.

My current average rate is 7.4% but obviously that gets lowered with each loan that does not get paid off. 

Perhaps to the tune of $2-$3k per month or more.Your property will, in average market conditions, appreciate. 12-24 months after house hacking you ideally will find yourself in the favorable position of having 5-10% equity through loan amortization and appreciation.

of course you have to handle the inquiries… but it’s pretty easy… we’ve done it multiple times.Your 6% appreciation approximation is less than the 7% average return the stock market  does long term - and lately it has been blowing that figure away - though as they say - past performance doesn’t equal future performance. 

However if this is a tenant who stayed 4 years, they have exceeded my goal for an average tenant stay and I'm not disadvantaged by their early departure.

They are asking 950K.Gross rents: 100,800Utilities: 3KInsurance: 7KProperty taxes are roughly 10K for each 450K in value.Repair/Maintenance: Don't have figures yet but I'm assuming it'll average out around 10K a year.The lender I am speaking with also requires me to also include an 8% vacancy rate and a 5% management fee whether I have those or not.With an interest rate of 8.15% and 20 year amortization, I can't get close to a 1.2 DSCR until my amount borrowed is down to about 450K. 

pid=2096Houston Real Estate Highlights in June, 2024:-Single-family home sales declined 11.6 percent year-over-year;-Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes went from 45 to 46 days;-Total property sales were down 13.6 percent with 9,133 units sold;-Total dollar volume declined 12.2 percent to $3.8 billion;-The single-family median price was statistically flat at $345,500;-The single-family average price was statistically flat at $432,090; -Single-family home months of inventory registered a 4.3-months supply, up from 3.0 months last June;-Townhome/condominium sales continued to decline, falling 19.9 percent, with the median price up 12.1 percent to $241,000 and the average price up 7.8 percent to $271,356.