Take the percentage above, multiply it by the BASE loan amount (the original loan amount without the up front MIP added back in) and divide by 12.

I would say atleast 10k or use the loan amount and multiply it by 5%.

So taking into account part of that 1200 each month has to go to at least insurance and property taxes your break even time gets extended even further out.If you use a mortgage you are taking money from a bank to buy a property that the tenants will then pay off the mortgage.Another way of looking at this:Lets say all things are equal and you end up holding this property for 30 years and you never have a single expense and you pocket all the cash:A 30 mortgage at 5% with 30k down will cost you $483 per month for 360 monthsso if you pocket the excess each month you will have (1200-483)=717 per month x by 360 months gets you $258,000 for only a 30k investmentnow take that number and multiply by 4 because with 30k down you can buy 4 properties and you have $1,032,480so 120K = $1,032480Your way will pocket 1200 per month for 360 months = $432,000so 120k=$432,000 at the end of 30 yearsnow of course there are extra costs included with the above calculations and thats where owning multiple properties spreads out your risk.  

This has happened multiply times. 

ARV multiplied by .70 (seventy percent) minus repairs = Maximum Allowable Offer.So in your case above I would go conservative and use the low end of your range to be safe:$165,000 x .70 - 20,000 = $95,500So, at first sniff your offer of $86,000 would work.Now, make SURE that your estimated repairs are accurate.  

You would take the price/sqft of the sold homes and multiply it by the sqft of the home you're interested in to calculate the value (i.e. offer price).

Here are the numbers:1139 Clinton Rd - On the Market 81 DaysDuplex, 2/1's, 900 sq ft eachPrice: $324,900Cost Per Unit: $162,45025% Down: $81,225PITI at 5% Interest: $1,741Gross Monthly Rents: $2,190Gross Annual Rents: $26,280PITI Cashflow Monthly: $449 PITI Cashflow Yearly: $5,388Gross Rent Multiplier: 12.361% Test: 0.67%Gross Annual Yield: 8.09%PITI Cash-on-Cash Return: 6.63%Here's the property description from the MLS: "New Plumbing, Roof, Water Heaters, Interior Paint, Blinds, Flooring and Carpet installed in 2015.

I like the idea of square footage multiplied by a price.

But if I'm not, I'd hate for you to make the same mistake multiplied by TWENTY in one stroke of your pen!

That also means that you multiply the issues which are already amplified by the distance.