I own quite a few properties there that all beat the 1% rule

Hello real estate professionals, do you guys have a rule of thumb for closing costs?

@Eliot M. all of those formulas are back of the napkin calculations like the 1% rule.

@Kapil JnTo learn more about the prohibited transaction rules, please see the following. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-particip...

There are 2 rules to qualify for a Section 121 Primary residence exclusion- Occupancy and OwnershipOccupancy needs to be met by both partners to qualify for the full $500k exclusion, ownership only needs to be met by 1/2 to qualify for the $500k section 121 exclusion.

Utilities are generally public and you can call them to get averages, taxes are public as well and can be pulled either from a assessor website or at their office, insurance companies can give you cash value and replacement value quotes by giving them an address, general rule for running calculations for vacancy is 5-10% of gross income, I have seen maintenance expenses all over the map (anywhere from $300-750 or a % of the rent - those vary depending on the number of doors in the deal as well as how much deferred maintenance has to be dealt with or how much rehab you are going to do to negate the deferred maintenance), contracted services, call a few landscapers and get quotes and use those for your analysis. 

You could use this number in a Rule of 72 calculation to figure out the amount of time it would take to double your money, for example.There are caveats to keep in mind with the calculator, though. 

As a rule I generally assume expenses to be 50% of the gross income for my first look evaluation no matter what expenses the seller reports (unless its more than 50%, then I will use their number.)From there you can get into more detail on what type of capital expenditure budget the property might need depending on what physical condition and what strategy might be best.As far as due diligence once the property is under contract, or maybe before in some situations you will need a much more exhaustive list.

Every jurisdiction has different rules.

Just a bunch of BS as you know.. they are there to do what we all do and that is snag a good deal.. nothing more nothing less.now in our states on the west coast this is illegal.. and or I should say very strict rules to follow and violation of these is serious.. ergo we no longer do it.. as its not profitable.. just have to let them cycle through the system.