We've found that if we schedule a weekend and go inspect the properties ourselves (with at least a week notice to the tenants as we have to schedule the trip that far out, anyway) once a year or so, a lot of the little stupid items that used to drive us nuts just go away.

The hold back shows up as a line item on the closing statement, with escrow releasing the funds when I send an authorization letter to escrow.

People that are poor from my experience have less quality items and a ton of hand me downs.

Thanks for the response Ryan.These numbers are coming directly from the mortgage consultants Good Faith Estimate Worksheet (in PDF form).I thought that line item was high as well.

It's the large items which I have no experience with that worry me.

Do you have information on the normal big ticket items such as roof, HVAC, electric and plumbing?

Maybe I should restructure my goals around actionable items that I can control.

This truly is in an A+ location. 95-100% occupancy.I obtained the 8825 form, but honestly am quite new at this and needed some help deciphering line-items.

I usually do 8.3% for vacancy which is one month out of the year but you can be conservative and make the math easy by doing 10%.It's great that all the items are new but a 10% of the rent for maintenance is recommended.

Inspection reports will detail all of this but will cost several $100 for multi-unit, if you rely upon inspector evaluation and you're not able to scope these on your own.Also, the $572/mo expense for the summarized items may or may not be accurate.