Single family home in need of some TLC for sale in western PA for $39,900.Median house price in the neighborhood $75-80kAverage rent for a similar property in that zip code $850-$900I would be putting down 20%, 5% interest, 30 years.Allocating $15k for rehabTotal cash needed $24,177Rent: $900/moVacancy: 5% ($45)Taxes: $238/moHome Insurance: $38/moMaintenance: 8% ($72)Capital Expenditures: 8% ($72)Utilities/Landscaping paid by tenant. 

My tenants all pay their own utilities.

@Tony Kim“For fair rental days, put the number of days the property was actually rented and producing income.

I was playing around with calculations and with a 25% downpayment for 30 years, and even 15 years everything I checked produced a negative cash flow of up to -$300. 

I calculated roughly sending 800-900 per month after all expenses such as all utilities, PITI, repairs, etc.Is it worth losing a little money each month to live in a nice house that we actually own as opposed to renting?

Here's a 48-unit building where I made over $1MILLION profit on:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/644570-how-i-made-over-1-million-on-1-deal-after-6-years-of-headaches$250K invested in the right building - managed in the right way,  can produce $50K/yr passive income.

@Jonathan Bolano if you are utilizing HML, then it’s not a cash deal.

Hi Mike,  Typically tenants pay for all utilities, except for a few rare cases where you will pay for the water.

And for the sake of conservatism, let's guesstimate that the total expenses of the property (maintenance, water utility, property tax, insurance, management, and vacancy) will equal 50% of the monthly rent, or $250/month in expenses.So, thus far, we would be earning $250/month, or $3,000/year.

You'll be paying higher insurance for short term rental property, cable/internet, lawn care,  utilities, permits and furnishings.