From the Sell side, leaving aside all the shall we say questionable numbers that are assumed, wrong or even simply misrepresented, the Seller (or agent) uses the P & L statement (proforma or actual) along with the listing price to represent what the profitability of the property could be or in fact is.From the Buy side, it is a way, after receiving information, making a bunch of assumptions and crunching a bunch of numbers, to compare possible purchases.

They are FREE to the buyer 2.)They do ALL of the leg work so you can crunch numbers and be the investor 3.)They are so much more knowlegable because they do this every day Get a good realtor, get 10!

It's a good rule of thumb, but really crunch the numbers to get a realistic expected return.

But I want to learn how to crunch some actual numbers.

I haven't exactly found the right property yet but I've crunched numbers on a few.  

That's my take on the odds without crunching any numbers-- perspectives may vary.

Here's the first property that I've come across that seemed actually worth my time to crunch the numbers on, help me see if this is a good deal or not.

An economist might prove to be more beneficial as economics is a combination of statistics, calculus, and psychology.In addition to crunching out numbers for clients, I can also provide insights on their meaning, and recommend the best course of action (with respect how the economy will change, and how your portfolio will be affected).

As much as I dislike the practices of BOA which began several years ago, even before the foreclosure crunch.

having five rentals allows me to save money and build a retirementwhile still being able to have time to practice and do my ministryI live on my church money and i save the rental income (I may use little for things here and there) but the idea is to save as much as possible.I dont pay mortgage or rent so my overhead is low.as far as return on investment my thoughts were as follows I buy properties based on what they were worth prior to the housing boom. so for example if a property sold for 98,000 in 1990 and I can buy it on foreclosure for 20k I feel I have a flippable housebut since I am renting it I consider it a flipable rental, I consider my R.O.I to be what I will be able to sell the property for 10 years from now. the money I get now is helping me generate more capital to purchase.other properties later.I am originally from NYC so I have grown up watching people be landlords turning single homes into two families or basement apartments I have grown up crunching numbers in my head watching basements apartments being built spending the nights in themand calculating the costs of doing a business like this.This is now my second job my church job being the firstI work at church 5 hours a week the rest I can devote to this.