How Realistic is the 2% Rule - Central MD, New at Analyzing Deals

[BJ Marshall]

Is it typical that the Zillow Rent Estimate is not even above 1% the listing price of a house, let alone 2%? 

I'm brand new and starting the 90-Day challenge to buying my first rental property after having attended my first webinar last week. I'm looking in the Fort Meade (Annapolis Junction, MD, and its surrounding areas) as a start to analyzing deals. It's close to where I live and work, and I would like to think that Department of Defense affiliates (Federal Employees, Contractors, and Military) are most likely the responsible sort.

I understand the best deals might not be in my backyard, though I was quite surprised to see that NONE of the houses I looked at in Zillow met the 2% rule. Clearly people ARE landlords in this area, so how are they cash flowing? (Maybe they're not.)

[Darius Ogloza]

If high property taxes do not ruin you, utility costs, where they are not split, may in any multi-unit property.