1st time Landord; maybe? Please help me understand!!

[Matt Nelson]

Hey, Everyone!

Im relocating out of state and Im trying to get a financially realistic idea if I should rent my house out or sell it. I dont know how the homeowner to landlord "business" aspects play out and im really just trying to get a feel of what the first year profit/loss will look like. 

I understand renting for investment is all about the long term vision, but to even see if its worth it for me, since I don't have a ton of money laying around, I need to see what a proposed first year financial estimate of the profit vs loss may look like with a few assumptions.

I don't understand how Ill be taxed and how appreciation/deprecation may play a factor. I dont even know if I should be considering if depreciation/appreciation should even be included in my analysis for a first year. I know very little, next to nothing on this. I'm hoping some of you who are CPA's can chime in!

Im building a spreadsheet to see what a first year net will look like. I'm hoping you guys (and gals) may be able to provide clarity so I can correct/complete this spreadsheet and help to make this big decision.

Heres what I know:

1. Rental income: 1700/mo
2. Mortgage payment = 1265/mo (included in that is ~520/mo in mortgage interest, 375/mo property taxes (accounting for ~+20% bump after losing homestead exemption))
   1. So far Ive paid 5230 in interest for this year
   2. So far Ive paid 3076 in taxes this year (with homestead exemption)
3. Landlord insurance ~105/mo
4. 170/mo property management fee (10% fee)
5. 160k left on mortgage (for appreciation/depreciation help ??)
6. Will lose first month rent to leasing agent to find tenant (-1700)
7. Am I missing anything here?  

Assumptions:

1. First year 500 maintenance (just for fairness - home built in 1984, but everything; roof, AC, HVAC, whole interior brand new in Dec, 2015. Place is flawless.
2. Other assumptions I should consider?

Help:

1. Rental Income vs Expenses - how will I be taxed and about how much?
2. What are the write offs and what do the write offs look like, how to calculate?
3. Are there write offs I should stay away from and just pay the taxes instead to avoid a tax recoil down the road?
4. Does appreciation/depreciation play a role in taxes? how much $?

To me there are some complicated questions above, although I do want to know the ins and outs, I also want to keep things as simple as possible for this first year profit/loss estimate if possible.

Also if there is a better section on this website you think I should post this to get answers please let me know!

Below is the spreadsheet - please feel free to help me with adding/removing/changing columns.

Thank you in advance everyone!!!!!!

Matt.