@Joshua Chambliss I am in the same boat with goals after military life is over...been in for over 11 yrs...going to retire in about 9 yrs.

Some people are more outgoing than others but that doesn't mean they don't have a lot of incite to offer.I just went to my local REIA last night and the presentation was from my local community bank that I have been using for over 25 yrs.

@Steve BuchananNo, if you live in your personal residence for 2 years, then move out, and rent it, and then sell BEFORE the 5 yrs expires, you still get the personal exemption of either $250,000 or $500,000 capital gains tax free.  

Looking to hold for 30+ yrs.  

Typically, expenses are around 35% to 65% of gross collected income and they average around 50% (hence, the 50% rule).35% is for properties that are newly renovated or renovated in the past 1-3 years in A/ A+ areas getting A/A+ tenants.65% is for properties that are OLD (60-100+ yrs old) in the war zones getting the lowest quality/ highest risk tenants.26% as others pointed out does not factor in: - 10% for property management- too low of a factor for vacancy (use 5% if the market is a hot rental area but otherwise use 10%)- too low of a factor for repairs and maintenance (use 5% if the building has been renovated in the past 5 years or if this property is in A or B areas; otherwise use 10%)- you should also factor in REPLACEMENT RESERVES or capex

20/25 yrs?

I lived in the condo for about 2.5 yrs ago and then decided to move to Chicago for a job.  

Thus, they do not use that, they use their own internal metrics and methods, a drive by appraisal every 3 yrs which means they don't know interior condition (good or bad), so they grade it based on average comps in the area which include distressed sales, etc.Just how our local areas work :)

Cap rate that's a given is 10% but you leverage up with 80% seller financing at some interest rate and a balloon much longer than 5 yrs.  

Have a 30 with 27 yrs left and plan to cut it to a 20.