In my area, the one-beds are okay -- they usually go to single men that pay on time; they are much cheaper rent-wise, so I would have to get one at a steal. 

@Michael J Ralph I have recently seen that $300 non refundable recently also.Not sure if that is the norm or even legal.I usually do a deposit of about 1.5x the rent.

This is about 15 miles away from my usual stomping grounds, so I’m not sure.

The very reason for a generic rule of thumb.LOL Thought Id post my expense averages over the years and remind folks that a 10% PM fee is way too low at least until occupied and stabilized.yes were I see the investors miss is that.. in many markets average tenant stays 18 months.. and hud will only allow one year leases so its not all that uncommon for HUD tenants to move a lot.. so every time that happens PM usually charges one month rent for placement. so you cant run numbers like your not going to pay placement fee's for 5 or 10 years you could pay those 5 to 10 times..  

Usually, they get really hot in the summer anyway.

heylooking to purchase a long term buy and hold rental property, budget is 70-80k cash only (oos investor), was approached by a company who assists in the whole process who recommended the indianapolis market as a growing market, with high yields compared to other places. leaving aside the question should i use this company (or any other for that matter), i am looking into the market, the buy/rent ratio looks good in terms of what i'm looking for and i can see the prices have really gone up in recent years, but when checking out the house prices going forward, it seems like most of the information i find talks about prices staying around where they are, some sources even show negative price changes. what are your takes on the matter?

Usually you get your financing in your personal name then use a land trust.

I act as the GC on my projects so I'm usually purchasing and dropping off materials at various points during the week, speaking with my subs/contractor on the phone for progress/updates, etc. 

Total time is usually less than 6 months.

There are numerous studies about the negative effects of rent control.