They will say they are new properties, and they have ready tenants, so the expenses will be low.At best, they're understating the expenses and covering the shortfall out of their profit for the guaranteed period.

I attended a NARPM conference this week, and there was a brief mention of a rider that can be added to landlords comp policy that, in the event of a loss, if the city code people require you to upgrade, for example, your electrical service to current code, this will cover the added expense, vs.

In the mean time the property will suffer more decay and possibly vandalism.

I think the down is really a function of the debt service coverate ratio.

Your tenant hasn't kept up with inflation.I'd tell them to contact their insurance company because their tenant insurance probably covers it.I also might ask them why they didn't move their food to a cooler, add some ice, and call me immediately.

Enough to cover yourself in the case where you need the reserves during a downturn?

A 5% rent increase is not going to cover the 37% increase in heating oil this coming heating season.

I'm learning more this way than having a buyers agent just spoon feed me the deals and cart me around.The only thing I want an agent for is to ensure the contract is drawn up properly and the offer letter contains all the contingencies to cover my ***.

Even though this has been a lot of posting, I'm glad that we're covering this topic in such detail.

Assuming that maintenance and repairs will cost 20% of gross rents (I believe this number to be way north of what it will actually cost) we arrive at $1,015 for maintenance and repairs.I will also have an extra $2,000 in a revolving CD ladder as a slush fund to fix whatever Murphy's Law throws at me.So:Gross rents: $5,076Taxes: $701Insurance: $766Debt service: $2520Maintenance and repairs: $1,015Cash Flow: $74I realize this will be basically a wash as far as cash flow for the first year, but I think I have all my bases covered as far as projecting what expenses will be.