Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area are charging vacancy taxes because they're seeing people with a lot of capital just buy up properties to hold onto for appreciation and not renting them out.

Deduct NEW property taxes after you buyDeduct home insurance costsDeduct maintenance percentage, typically 10%Deduct vacancy+tenant nonperformance percentage(we recommend 5% for Class A, 10% Class B, 20% Class C, good luck with Class D)Deduct whatever dollar/percentage of cashflow you wantNow, what you have left over is the amount for debt service.Enter it into a mortgage calculator, with current interest rate for an investment property, to determine your maximum mortgage amount.Divide the mortgage amount by either 75% or 80%, depending on the required down payment percentage - this is your tentative price to offer.If the property needs repairs, you'll want to deduct 110%-120% of the estimated repairs from this amount.Be sure to also research the ARV and make sure it's 10-20% higher than your tentative purchase price.As long as the ARV checks out, this is the purchase price to offer.It is probably significantly below the asking price.

If you do it right, it’s arguably the best market to invest.Purchase: $80k-$130kRent: $1100-$1500 (no rent control in MI)1% rule: .9%-1.4% rule dealsCoc ROI: 5-12%Total ROI: 20-40%Cash flow: $50-$250/door (after all expenses and budgeting for maint, capex, vacancy)Appreciation: 3-10%+ (has been double digit for a decade)Location: C+, B-These numbers are based on the “sweet spot” in Metro Detroit.

This is the class of property that I'm referring to when I talk about very high tenant demand and low vacancy. 

@Clare Pitcher we do 12+ month leases to avoid vacancies Nov-Feb.If we take over an occupied property, evict or have tenancy-abandon a property, we first let the owner know finding a tenant will take longer than "normal".This opens up owners to understanding they may need to:1) Offer 3D tour and floor plans to stand out2) Price more aggressively or be prepared for aggressive price reductions3) Offer MoveIn Specials:- NOTE: we do NOT recommend offering a month of free rent that can be used at MoveIn.

Real estate in a 401(k) is less liquid, so keep cash reserves for repairs or vacancies.

Will you not renew them and suffer all of the vacancy/turnover costs?

I tend to use 8% for vacancy, 5-10% for repairs depending on the condition of the property, and 7-9% for cap ex.

.), and also need to consider the cost of vacancies or bad tenants.I also recommend you charge market rate, for yourself and the tenant.

Longer tenancies mean lower turnover and vacancy costs, so two single-family homes usually generate more reliable income and higher net cash flow than a fourplex.Vacancy risk: A fourplex has four times the vacancy risk of a single-family home.