Estimate future large expenses like replace root, HVAC, waterheater, etc and that should be part of expense too.

I have seen  people turn an everyday average "carpet, paint, baseboards needed" into a full blown new custom kitchen with soap stone counters and marble floors throughout and wonder why and how they spent $60K when I told them it was $15-20K tops for the neighborhood.

*Takes a deep breath before stepping on the soap box*We did not used to take such a fee and found we were inundated with tire kickers.

I’m a financial planner with a small Boston based firm, and our roots are in Worcester.Bob

Although, that's hard to fully ascertain as I recently just moved from Colorado back to my roots here in Minneapolis in order to live a little cheaper and save some money.

And also they had their best decade yet so let's hope they continue that in the new decade.And you know who I'm rooting for in the World Series :mrgreen:

This was actually the root cause of the housing crash that you reference.

Anyway, I'd like to plant some roots here.

Soon Alec and I will be figuring out where we want to put down roots next.

There were a number of factors that led to doing it at this point:1) The time it took to maintain both my day job and manage the portfolio was taking its toll2) I was making more money at a lower tax rate with real estate than the W-2 income3) I was mentally ready to focus on real estate and change my quality of lifeYou are definitely asking the right questions and as someone who had the same goal and has not made that goal a reality, I'm rooting for your success!