As an agent I'll give you my routine, I'm not saying it is correct way or the best way:1.

You can pretty easily find $200 per month with routine maintenance and expenses in an older property, but one roof replacement on a big old rambling up/down duplex built 100 years ago will *crush* cashflow for many months or even years in some cases or an upstairs porch rebuild or any combination of medium priced capital expenses in a short period of time.

If you're going the umbrella insurance route, make sure it will cover you for several things including just the routine slip and fall.

Does having an everyday routine keep you focused?

Vacancy, legal, accounting, advertising, screening, property management, utilities when vacant, routine maintenance, turn over costs, cap expenses, insurance, etc.

Does your cash flow analysis account for vacancy, routine maintenance, and property management?

You need to have systems in place to handle it well and make it a smooth routine.

If you want to try working with a PM again, we do have an option for owners to take care of maintenance, but we still list/screen/lease the property, man the phones 24/7, collect the rent, handle the accounting, do routine inspections of the property, etc.

@Steve Vaughan  client of mine in Alameda CA owned about 200 doors all free and clear.. and he was a little odd he collected rent twice a month.. and rent was to be pinned to the front door..so he had a routine collect 100 one day 100 14 days later..

Since the IRS recommends segmenting the depreciation into these separate categories, it will not raise an eyebrow, or RED light.