I had been doing maintenance on the property for about 12 years How did you finance this deal?

ExampleIf you financed 100% of the purchaseRent= $1,500Expenses= PITI (principal, interest, taxes and insurance) + maintenance: $1,400Cash Flow = $100/monthIf you paid Cash for the purchaseRent= $1,500Expenses = you would not be paying principal or interest so it would just be- taxes + insurance + maintenance: $700Cash Flow = $800/monthBig monthly cash flow difference due to the financing and can make a bad deal look good with a cash purchase. 

I am netting around $20,000 per year, excluding maintenance. 

Compare to the sitting empty plan, they get to deduct all taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, repairs, furnishings, etc etc.

  $2000 will trash out and clean an apartment, some maintenance-type repairs and replace one of the kitchen appliances. 

I'm not interested in renting my current home as I don't want the ongoing maintenance on it.We can move a used M/H on the property for 30-40k, live on the property for a few years, and sell in a few years and pay no tax on the gains. 

I can't seem a large benefit of REI in a case where you have to put 20% down in an average market.Ex:20% on $500k move-in ready duplex where about $1k cash flow (ideal scenario)Assumptions - 6% housing appreciation, Stock 6% appreciation (conservative estimates)Profit- House appreciation 6%/year- Mortgage paydown and it's 6% appreciation/year- Cashflow invested back into mortgage paydown+/- tax deductionsExpense- interest payment, taxes, home insurance, maintenance ~ roughly 1k a/f deduction (conservative est, probably alot more)VSOpportunity Cost- Down payment 20% = 100k in mutual fund 6% return/yr- $1k/month expenses that could be contributed to mutual fundYes there are still alot of variables- housing and stock appreciation/return will vary depending on location/time/stock- did not exactly calculate out the tax deductions / expenses but made a conservative estimate in favor of REI- did not include time and fees dealing with REI transactions vs just working a few more hours at my jobWhat i'm seeing is that in a scenario where someone will not be building sweat equity or finding a crazy discounted deal on a property and going through a conventional 20% in an "average market", the argument doesn't seem as strong for REI vs mutual funds/stock - they seem to be pretty close if you take into account the variables mentioned above.

Do you think 11% is  strong enough maintenance and cap ex for a 90's build?

Also going to need an estimated maintenance and capex costs to calculate COC.

Cash flow after 5% CapX, 5% maintenance, 5% vacancy, as well as estimated utilities divided amongst the roommates, is about $30/mo.