Is this normal? 

As noted above, up to 50% of gross rental income normally gets eaten up by expenses (taxes, management fees, utilities, landscaping, repairs, capex, etc).

Purchase price: $690,000 Cash invested: $172,500 Took a gamble on a larger single family home in an up and coming master planned community.

There is a gamble there that the second appraisal comes in at or below the first.

We didn't buy much from the MLS and if we did, it was either a "handyman special" or it had been on the market 180+ days with a motivated seller willing to take less than market value.This will be the "new normal" going forward and a lot of newer investors will drop out of the acquisition market and just hold what they have.

At any rate it is possible, but depending on your appraisal it could be a gamble

:Syndication multi-family investments are riskier and have less upside than gambling in Las Vegas.

Also, to track spending habits - just had a prospect withdraw their application when we asked why they were spending half their income on gambling websites.

Very normal.

Ensure you have an itemized invoice from the cleaner, which can help justify the deduction.Reasonable Deductions: Long-term tenants often leave normal wear and tear, so I recommend being lenient on minor issues.