I've been having this conversation lately with a lot of the owners I work with as well as those who self-manage.

First, keep in mind that some lenders might let you use more than 75% of the rental income, especially if you have a solid rental history or property management in place.

As a property manager handling short term rentals, we would have the owner replace but long term rentals like the one I'm staying in, it requires the tenant to replace the filters.

@Dennis GallagherIt's my understanding that the "Income-Expense Ratio" primarily use operating expenses as the expense variable, which includes costs like utilities, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs, property management fees, and trash removal, all of which are considered when calculating a property's operating expense ratio (OER).You calculate OER by dividing the total operating expenses by the gross operating income of a property.

I am not sure the Tenant is so friendly, my property manager deals with them.If you have a PM, they should answer this question for you and handle the process.You should notify the PM and update your PM Agreement, W-9, banking information, etc.

From my experience, many investors prefer to stay hands-off and avoid the day-to-day operations—managing contractors, solving unexpected issues, or finding a replacement electrician.

I have never paid a property manager anything when a house is vacant. 

Engage with property managers for insights on rents, expenses, or off-market opportunities, and request financial documents like rent rolls and profit/loss statements from sellers’ agents as part of due diligence.

Quote from @Jackie Liu: Hello BP members, So I have a property in Camby, Indiana where sewer is managed by the Tri-County Conservancy District which is billed separately (flat $64 per month) and can't be transferred into the Tenant's.

Primarily in Upstate NY and southern VT for now, but open to anywhere as I'll be using property management and I am confident in my networking abilities.