The conservative way to budget Capex reserves is to look at estimated remaining useful life of each item: roof, siding, windows, kitchen, HVAC, water heater, bathroom, fences, gutters, chimney linings/tuckpointing, foundation items, etc, and assigning a replacement cost divided by remaining useful life.  

I'm more interested in accumulating a lot of doors than having a flashy lifestyle; I use the money to buy more properties.My brother, Joe, told me how he puts money into a Vanguard charitable fund - the money can't be removed but he can donate to charities he likes - and I want to do the same so I'll be putting some money that would be going toward taxes into that instead.

They will also provide renovation estimates and the other information you will need in your evaluation.

If the OP's estimates are correct AND they're in a fast-appreciating area, it might make sense to hold it.

The information below was provided by a Loan Officer for my Closing Cost as the Buyer/Borrower and Title Company for the Seller's Closing Cost.Loan Information$185,000 = Loan Amount$9,250 = Conventional Loan Down Payment (5%)$4,980 = Estimated Closing Cost: (Processing Fees, Underwriting Fees, Appraisal, Appraisal Review Fee, Title Insurance Services, Settlement Fee, Administrative Fee, Courier Fee, Owner's Title Insurance, Lender's Title Insurance, Recording Fees, City/County/Stamps, & State Tax/Stamps)$2,120 = Estimated Prepaid/ Estimated Reserve Cost: (Daily Interest, Home Insurance, & Property Taxes)$16,350 = Total Cash at Closing from Borrower$1,000 = Estimated Monthly Mortgage Payment: (P&I, Hazard & Mortgage Insurance, & Real Estate Taxes)Seller Closing Cost$0 = Agents Commissions: (No REA involved in this transaction per Seller's request)$900 = Total Cash at Closing from Seller: (Estimated Doc.

Contractor estimates 5 weeks but I’ll say 2 months of HML holding.  

Some recurring advice I've seen in the "Intro to REI" videos and in the forums is to be conservative when estimating expenses, and I'm finding that makes it difficult to make any property cash flow, especially if I'm living in one of the units.For example, this fourplex: https://www.zillow.com/homedet... is only 250k (which is so much lower than most other fourplexes I've seen that it seems like there might be some additional due diligence required).

Hey @Noah McPherson It sounds like your renovation time estimate is pretty wide.

We are working with a bank for the triplex that is letting us do 20% down ($15,600) and they estimate closing costs to be $8,000 so we would be into that deal $23,600.

@Mark Ainley - Just curious what did you end up doing with this one......Did you get an estimate?