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

Stick to your rules, do not bend them.

I believe this was changed under last year's tax "reform" bill, but may not have been a permanent change.If I remember correctly, you can take the CapEx as expenses or 50% or something like that.

@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 would put up the 50 to 100k in EM so i got into contract then i would budget 10 to 20k for the land use guys to tell me if i had a deal. 

Plus there are also newer regulations about installing fire sprinklers for greater than 50% remodeling.

The roof will outlast the building.Biggest PITA for me is getting a descent looking over hang on a roof edge 50' long with no eavestrough to hide it.

I'm hoping that my tax due to IRS will be about 50% lower than if I were to have not split the proceeds evenly between 2 properties. 

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

Near college. 50 pads developed.