Here are some links that may better assist you... http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/2013-Standard-Mileage-Rates-Up-1-Cent-per-Mile-for-Business,-Medical-and-Moving http://www.irs.gov/publications/p463/ch04.html#en_US_2012_publink100033930http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc510.html Kudos, Mary

Standard insurance from Farmers, State Farm, Allstate etc is find they will require the policy has 6 months rent loss coverage which isn't much more and generally standard with most polices on rental properties.

My biggest lessons learned here were:1) Have more than enough reserves than you think you might need (or quick, reliable access to other cash)2) Know your standards, and stick to them3) Don’t give up long-term goals for short-term gains4) Have an exit strategy/mitigant in place for weak(er) tenants if you do accept them or are in your tenant pool due to geographical location.

I had a pretty standard comment for this as a lender.

I understand that it may be subject to each individual investor, however, is there a "standard" that you have seen exercised?

There really isn't a "norm." 10% seems to be a standard allowance though I'd imagine almost everyone on here has a few contracts better than that.

More flexible u/w usually 2-4 pts, 10-12% is standard I'm seeing....Just quoted large land deal today @ 4 pts, 10%; I'll likely be at 2-3 pts.

With the mortgage on the house we are living in (our first home), we can afford something max of 50-60K (down payment + standard mortgage).

My personal decisions about what to do at a property are related to minimum standards once those standards are meet then upgrades are considered with the eye to attracting and keeping better tenants.

For example, I currently have a 401k plan managed by JP Morgan, under that I have previously created an account under Schwab, which I diverted some fund from the JP Morgan account into Schwab to do my own stock trading because the main JP Morgan I can only trade the standard set of "funds".