What does it cost to run a rental each year?

Every bill, line by line, before the mortgage. Santa Clara and Alameda County defaults.

Purchase price

Units

Rent per unit

$/mo

Year built

City

Water, sewer, trash, common-area power

Management

More settings (rates and reserves)

Property tax (% of price/yr)

Direct assessments (parcel tax, sewer)

$/yr

Insurance (% of price/yr)

Vacancy

Repairs (% of rent, auto by age)

CapEx reserve (per unit, auto by age)

$/yr

Utilities if you pay (per unit)

$/mo

PM fee (% of rent collected)

Repairs and CapEx change by year built until you type your own number. Before 1980: 8% and $750/unit. 1980–2009: 6% and $500. 2010 or newer: 5% and $325. All estimates.

Operating expenses

$0 /yr

$0 per unit, per month · Expense ratio 0% Rent collected: $0/yr · NOI: $0/yr

Item	Per year	/ unit / mo

Vacancy lossNot a bill, but rent you won't collect$0

Total incl. vacancyShare of full rent that never reaches you$0

Use these numbers in T146

Open T146 cash flow →

Expense ratio 35–45% is common for older 2–4 units. Under 30%? Something is probably missing. Insurance, utilities, repairs, CapEx and PM are estimates.

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Next steps

Ask the seller for the T-12 (last 12 months of real bills) and compare line by line with this list.
Plug the total into T146 to see cash flow, or into T260 to see the most you should pay.
Check how far rent can move and if bills jump: T264 stress test.
City rent rules (AB 1482, San Jose ARO, Oakland) decide how fast rent can catch up: T55.

Many people get this wrong: "the seller's expenses are the expenses." The seller's 1.25% tax line is on their old Prop 13 value. You pay tax on your price. On a long-held fourplex that one line can jump by $10,000+ a year.