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.?  

You can lose a lot of capital by refinancing to fix the roof or re-plumb the place.

If you're talking about fixing driveways, roofs, and decks, then winter is uncomfortable at best.  

I don't have a sense of rehab costs in this area, but all the pictures suggest the unit will need at least a new roof and aesthetic rehab, wiring, new appliances for all the pictured units.Further, the listing claims 6 slots of off-street parking but no pictures.

Check the condition of the roof, siding, windows, pavement, lawn, deck, porch, driveway, garage door.....walls, floors, light fixtures, switches, outlets, furnace, AC, pipes, stairs...

Quality of the Roof.  

The exterior was in bad enough shape that the siding was roof shingles that didn't even overlap, they just butted them up against each other, so they were peeling off. 

But what I thought they said is to figure out the cash flow and then divide it by two because history has tended to show that unexpected expenses (new water heater in yr 1, roof repair yr 2, etc) tend to eat up about half of your earned cash flow.  

They don't take care of themselves and when the toilet plugs up or the AC breaks or the roof leaks the PM will not be out there when the tenant starts screaming at you over the phone that they will not pay the rent until you get there at midnight on Sunday to fix the problem.

Exterior paint and roofing would be the largest.