I know, in our state, you lost the homestead exemption but it doesn't equate to double the taxes...not even close.

Right now it appears that you are being cut out of the equation. 

On a personal residence it's hard to keep the emotions (especially my wife's) out of the equation. 

To calculate the price of my rentals I use the following equation...((10% x Purchase Price or Acquisition Cost)+ taxes+insurance+HOA+Mortgage Payment) * 110% to 125%So a property thats $100K paid with cash((10% x 100000) + $2000 Tax + $900 Insurance) * 115%= $14835/yr in rental revenue/12 months = $1236/month in rent.If the property doesn't yield $1250/month then why am I buying?

Until I realized that low value does not equate to low ROI or inefficient IRR.

These auctions usually require a relatively small earnest money deposit (10% or less of the sale price), have title insurance available, marketable title is part of the equation; financing is available; the auction is well promoted; property inspection is available and auction location and times are convenient.

That said, I'm not at all familiar with cap rate as a concept, but hope that the equation helped, until someone who knows better than I do chimes in.

I tried about 10 different things which all equated to wasting my time.

Those are very real considerations I would factor into my equation.

Strategy: Buy and Hold for long termLocation: Elmore, OhioType: Single Family HomeARV: $103,000Repairs: $40,000-=1st Way to Analyze=-Max Offer = .75*ARV – Repairs = $37,250Thoughts: Everyone mentions this equation, but the issue I’m running into is that when I use the second way to analyze..the Max Offer from this outcome is too high to make sense.-=2nd Way to Analyze=-*Projecting Annual Property Operating Data Yearly *Financing: 5.125%, 30 year, 20% down.Closing Costs: $2,500Gross Scheduled Income - $12,000Vacancy Allowance – 5%Advertising - $100 (w/ 2% growth rate)Insurance - $700 (w/ 2% growth rate)Lawn/Snow - $400 (w/ 2% growth rate)Taxes - $2,323.42 (w/ 2% growth rate)Property Management – 10% of Gross Operating IncomeRepairs – 10% of Gross Operating IncomeCapEx Reserves – 10% of Gross Operating IncomeIn this scenario…if I purchase it at $8,183, then my total cash investment is $44,137…then my COC Return starts at 9%, then 9.25%, then 9.5% yearly ect….so I couldn’t pay much more then that (trying to get 9-10% COC).