Vacancy and capex

These two lines are where amateur underwriting dies.

Vacancy

5% is about 2.5 empty weeks a year. 8% is about a month. A turnover is not just lost rent. It is paint, locks, listing time, and sometimes a leasing fee. If you have never been vacant, you have not owned the property long enough.

Capex

Maintenance is the faucet. Capex is the roof. A simple reserve is 5% of rent, or about 0.5–1% of property value per year. Itemize if you want: roof, HVAC, water heater, flooring, kitchen cycle.

If a deal only cash-flows when both rows are $0, it does not cash-flow.