Boston landlords estimating expenses

[David Shapira]

Hi everyone, I'm a first-time investor looking to purchase a two/three family house in the greater Boston area. I'm hoping for some guidance from local landlords on estimating expenses. 

Aside from PITI/PMI, I'm estimating 5% of rental income for vacancy, 10% for maintenance/capex, and 10% for property management. Are these numbers fair? What should I budget for water/sewer? What other expenses should I plan for?

[Lien Vuong]

Vacancy is closer to 3% in Boston area, Management is 5-7% depending lot size and condition of the home, PM should be 5% (higher rental rates and elevated tenant class yields lower rental management %). You should budget around $30/bedroom for water and sewer costs per month as that accounts for how many people actually live there. You can check each town if there's trash cost as well as common gas and electric costs for the common areas.