The first thing most people think about when questioning if they can afford to buy a rental property is the price of the home itself. And it’s not a bad place to start crunching the numbers. To get a sense of which markets you might want to explore, it’s helpful to look at the median listing price for properties in your chosen area. For instance, buying a rental property in New York City, New York, can easily run over a million dollars, while the median home price in San Antonio, Texas, is less than $300,000. By identifying the median house price in your market, you can get a better sense of which markets you might be able to afford.
While housing prices are a good place to start, there are many other rental property costs that you need to plan for as a Castro Valley investor. Some of the most common of these costs include:
- Down Payment – Unless you’re paying cash for a property, you’ll need to plan to have enough money on hand for a down payment. Most conventional mortgages require between 10% and 25% of the purchase price.
- Closing Costs – The list of closing costs is long, ranging from fees for everything from loan origination and attorney fees to appraisals, recording fees, and more. A good rule of thumb is to plan to pay between 2% and 5% of the purchase price.
- Property Taxes – Although often overlooked, property taxes are also an important item to include in your budget. Property taxes are based on the estimated value of the property. In most counties, you can find information on property taxes online.
- Repair and Maintenance Costs – Depending on the condition your property is in when you buy it, you might need to fix it up before it’s ready for your tenants. It would help if you also planned for ongoing repair and maintenance costs, which are often around 5% of the property value annually.
- Association Fees – If your property is subject to an Owner’s Association or other governing board, you’ll need to factor monthly association fees into your total costs. These fees could be meager or quite substantial, depending on the type of amenities the community offers.
- Property Management Fees – Many Castro Valley investors choose to have a trusted property manager, like Real Property Management Masters, handle the day-to-day tasks involved in owning a rental property. If this is your plan, it’s important to include the cost of the property manager’s fee in your budget. Depending on who you hire, this fee could range anywhere from 8% to above 20%.
- Ongoing Capital Expenditures – All rental properties will need capital improvements over the years, some larger than others. Be sure to plan for high costs, like a new roof or full window replacement, right from the start.
- Future Vacancies – No investor buys a rental property thinking it will sit empty for weeks or months, but it can and does happen. It’s important to include the costs of an unexpected vacancy into your total ownership costs.
- Cash Reserves – If buying that rental property will leave you flat broke, you probably can’t afford it. It’s important to ensure that you have some cash in reserve after closing to avoid financial difficulties.
While this list is by no means comprehensive, it does represent many of the major expenses. Others might be things like insurance, legal fees, utility costs, real estate agent commissions, and so on. By making sure you have all expenses accounted for, you can make smart investment decisions that will help safeguard the profitability of each rental property for years to come.
Would you like to know more about how to calculate rental property costs accurately? We can help! Contact us online or give us a call at 510-398-8704.