If you haven't acquired previously, caution not to attack on multiple fronts right away...one at a time, learn from it and improve as you go...we are 1000% better equipped to acquire from the prior experiences...they do take time after acquisition for dust to settle and for you to see the effect as well as what strains it puts on your existing processes and infrastructure. 

From what I am reading, this may be an issue with the "same taxpayer rule."

@Darren Nardo there is no real rule of thumb for this question.

Stick to your rules, do not bend them.

If you have to just divide by 27.5, wouldn't that highly discourage you from improving your property if you're, say, 25 years into owning it?

@Nick McBrideFirst you have to determine what is your responsibilities of paying and what is the tenants responsibilities of paying.As a general rule - the landlord's expenses/allowance will include repairs/capital expenditures/vacancy/property taxes/mortgage interest/mortgage principal/etcDepending on the county - Water and Sewer can be included in property taxes and be the responsibility of the landlord.Items such as electricity/water/gas is up for negotiation to be paid by either the landlord or tenant depending on what is said in the lease.

I've looked at a number of properties lately where part of the value add is to improve amenities while also upgrading interior units. 

I read this section over and over as it gave at least a road map to how the domino's fell the last time we had this collection of challengesSecond Ray was big on the following process: Set and Execute on Audacious Goals, Fail, Learning Principles, Improve, More Audacious Goals ... cycle continuesIn the end a great read and again I find it so sad that I had not heard of Bridgewater or Ray Dalio before I picked up his book.Z

Same general rules apply in that the assessment value needs to be there for the property as well as your general credit history. 

You can do it......One book that really helped me is Credit Secrets from Scott/Allison Hilton, but again I'm sure you can find something on improving your credit on BP.Have Faith and Good LuckJoanne