The thought process is that if I like the deal today, I may love it a few years down the road where I can refi (whether I cash out or not) under better terms to reduce debt service.I'm sure this is the kind of thing I could spend a lot of time trying to build in Excel -- am wondering if anyone can direct me to an existing tool that might help with this.

I have a small amount of capital to invest with (25k), as well as excellent credit for financing purposes.

There is quite a bit to do and, while I am comfortable with Excel enough to make and use my own spreadsheet to manage this, I am curious what resources others use and what spreadsheets or templates you guys might be willing to share, Excel or otherwise, with me and the rest of the BP community.

@Junior Picanco excellent job and thanks for sharing.

Within Excel you can do: =IRR(cell range including total equity in the cell all the way to the left as a negative, followed by each of the year by year cash flows)

Expect to pay about $3600 or so on all the appraisals (assuming all are investment properties).If I remember correctly, you said you had excellent credit before, You may even have an option for all conventional financing with a bank who'll do more than the 4 financed properties.

The idea with the meter is excellent!

Been with them over a year now and they've done an excellent job.  

To me, it seems like this would be an excellent 1-2 year crash course to learn the "nuts and bolts" of the industry for a variety of reasons.

we have issued exactly 1 receipt in 6 yrs and 15 houses. so, dont bother with them unless they request them. it's a waste of time.i have Quicken Property Manager and love it. it keeps our personal and business stuff on there. throw excel and such junk out the window. most people have Buildium, but it's expensive for just 1 house.quicken PM is around $80 give or take. dont use excel.