Again - these are just rough rules of thumb I use and you will need to adjust it for the condition of the place, average vacancies in your area, and the Capital Expenditures you see on the horizon. 

But you're correct, you'll need to adjust your prices for each season - your bookings might still slow down because of an overall drop in demand, but you need to make sure your pricing stays competitive so you can still get some of those bookings.  

I adjust the capex to match the age of the house and the age of the major components. 

Taxes and Insurance: Do you foresee the tax and insurance being adjusted after the purchase? 

My goal is to reduce my Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) as much as possible to keep my student loan payments low.

You put money in your pocket every month and are able to reduce your adjusted gross by taking advantages of the tax code.  

I passed I just could not fathom how that could happen.. the guy who dragged me down there went ahead with it and of course was not a enjoyable experience for him.one the competition for new is intense and a lot of these sub 150 to sub 200k builders work on razor thin margins and make It up in volume  from what I saw.   

@Josh Meyers I’ve heard that you can contact Zillow and ask them to re-evaluate or adjust it.

One benefit of the job is I have access to repair estimating software that can be a check on any repair bills and a network of adjusters country-wide that can provide real-world references on local contractors in any area of the country.Like others who have posted before me, we are anxious to get this endeavor off the ground but we are trying to be very realistic on the challenges we are going to face along the way.

Purchase price: $54,000 Cash invested: $12,000 We bought this property as an intensive rehab and are currently in the process of getting it fixed up to rent and refinance.