But at the end of the day there is no history on that particular asset and your results will differ sometimes for the better and sometimes they won't hit the profroma number.Personally I think one of the best numbers out there  IE the 1% rule the 2% rule etc  is the 50% rule... were as in a home that rents at up to say 1200 a month you just calculate 50% of gross rents to your operating cost.. then subtract your mortgage expenses.. that will give you a nice safe number.. if you like the investment based on that your probably going to be happy long term... and if you do better say you hit 40% of gross as an expenses number then your very happy .. where I think folks get unhappy is they try to plug in the bare minimum numbers and that becomes their expectation and rental houses generally do not hit the bare minimums it always seems to cost more.. at least with my large portfolio ( 350 SFR's in 5 states ) that was the case..

I would lend my girls money when they were being evicted, or electric was being turned off etc.. i may come as harsh to you but i am really trying to save you some heartache.. people with money problems who mis- manage their money or just barely pay their bills will always have money problems, so while you think you being kind lending them money for their car, next month it will be a new problem and when you stop lending money  or giving slack you are automatically a *****.. its a  no win situation 

I got into buy-and-hold (landlording) investing barely knowing what I was doing.

I am paying taxes but but barely cash positive.

Many owners do the bare minimum and let the commercial tenant configure the space. 

Update - the first coat of solar white goo is on the roof, and I can place my bare hand on it at 230pm. 

That doesn't mean you should buy barely cashflowing properties in a place that has, and will likely never have, appreciation. 

That said I could barely walk the next day after edge sanding. 

They work odd hours and they're barely home.

**note - I only do this for single familyOur multi family stuff usually has bare bones and we go with curtains (cheap ones) vs mini blinds, due to damage and replacement costs.I hope that helps.AG