Rules of thumb for Rentals

Anyone have rules of thumb they stick by when calculating how much to pay for rental properties (i.e. calculations, cash flow amounts they stick by no matter what?)

I wouldn’t even look at a property that I couldn’t cashflow AT LEAST $145 per month after EVERYTHING was paid…

My initial screening criteria was that I needed to be able to rent for 1% of the sales price. In low cost areas (low taxes., low insurance, etc.) this worked for me.

Keith

I won’t buy a rental property unless the monthly gross rents are at least 2% of the purchase price (plus rehab costs, if any).

I also won’t buy a rental property unless I can pay less than 70% of the market value.

Mike

gross rents close to 1% of purchase price; then I dig in and really look to see if there anything worth considering.

gross rents double the PI payment

Double the purchase price is a good rule of thumb… However, Taxes and Insurance has been eating me alive the past couple of years. Both are increasing, eating at my profit…almost to the point where I am breaking even now on properties that were cash flowing $200 per month two years ago. So… watch T&I as much as P&I!