The 3 numbers I check before spending a single hour on a deal

[Alex Rastorgouev]

I've been refining how I screen deals over the past couple years, and honestly the biggest improvement to my process wasn't adding more analysis — it was ruthlessly cutting it down. Before I spend a single hour pulling comps or calling agents, I check three numbers on every deal. First is price-to-rent ratio. If the monthly rent divided by purchase price is below 0.6%, I'm out immediately in today's rate environment. That used to be the classic 1% rule but I've found 0.6% is the realistic floor where cash flow can still work with 7%+ debt. Second is the insurance-to-rent ratio. I want insurance under 15% of gross rent — anything higher and you're bleeding before you even factor in vacancy or maintenance. I got burned on this once with a coastal property where insurance ate 22% of gross rent, and the deal that looked solid on paper turned negative fast. Third, I look at the spread between cap rate and my cost of debt. If there's no positive spread at all, I need a very compelling value-add story or I walk. Negative leverage kills deals slowly and quietly. This quick filter eliminates probably 80% of what hits my inbox before I waste time on deep analysis. Curious what other people's "first-pass" filters look like — do you have a quick screen you run before diving into full underwriting?