I always estimate on the high side just in case but if it sold for 150k your profit would be 22-24k which is great. 

Does anyone in the LA area have a general "rule of thumb" for estimating maintenance costs, at least for the initial evaluation stage?  

There is a little bit of estimation and guess work for figuring out vacancy rates and maintenance rates, but otherwise these numbers are pretty solid.Appreciation properties are way more complicated to break down the numbers because there are so many unknowns that can affect the property's ability to appreciate.  

Estimate the damage and invoice the tenants for this.

I would use 10% as an estimate for your analysis

Hi Samuel,I'm active in the Greater Toronto Area, in Ontario, Canada, and for certain clients or deals, I will go further (London, Barrie, Kitchern-Waterloo-Cambridge, Windsor, Ottawa, Montreal, etc.).

quick details on the house:2 bed1 bath1300 sqft, full basement2 car detached garage$13500 purchase price$2500 repair estimate$450-500 estimated rentThanks for the input

I would estimate that help could be as high as $100k, but we haven't talked numbers.

It looks like the cashflow is too skinny and over estimated.

My rough estimate is that it will take around $60,000 to make the house right.The one thing this house has going for it is that it is in a very good location where there is a shortage of homes for sale.