ProfitGuardAnalyze the full cash-flow stack before you offer
Rent comps, vacancy, reserves, taxes, insurance, management, maintenance, CapEx, and debt service — size the max offer from income before writing the check.
Read articleRentals path
Hold-and-rent guides in path order.
Negative cash flow until it’s occupied — how to price the risk
Make-ready delay and empty days mean costs run while rent is zero. Calculate the pre-occupancy gap, fund it, and separate it from flip holding-cost math.
Read articleWhat actually lands after tax on a rental year
Your bank balance (cash flow) and your tax return (taxable income) ask different questions. A clear walkthrough of rent, expenses, reserves, interest, principal, and depreciation on an example rental — and when the Net Investment Income Tax even matters.
Read articleLeases, CapEx, and the quiet killers
Turnover, make-ready between tenants, capital expenditure (CapEx) reserves, insurance gaps, and lease terms — the quiet lines that can erase year-one cash flow on an example rental.
Read articleHold vs flip on the same address
One worksheet, two exits. Model hold cash flow and the flip profit check on the same address before you bid — and know when a Section 1031 exchange belongs to investment holds, not dealer inventory.
Read articleThe loan is part of the rental underwrite
Debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) mindset, reserves, rate shock, and a vacancy slip month — price the rental debt stack before you bid. A flip loan is priced for a short hold and a sale. A rental loan is priced for years of payments — including months with no rent. Don’t underwrite a hold with flip-loan math.
Read articleWhen the second rental breaks your spreadsheet
The second rental is where a single-property spreadsheet quietly lies to you. Shared cash, capital expenditure (CapEx), and taxes don’t live on one tab. If you add a rental before you have shared actuals, you mostly scale confusion.
Read articleThe year-two escrow shock: when taxes and insurance reset your payment
A rental can pay you $281 a month in year one and $63 a month in year two on the same rent. Reassessed taxes, a higher insurance renewal, and an escrow shortage spread over 12 months are why.
Read articleOne ZIP, two tax bills: why the county line matters to the underwrite
ZCTA 30005 sits in two Georgia counties. On a $400,000 rental, a Johns Creek parcel's 2025 rate costs about $854 a year more than an unincorporated Forsyth parcel. Same ZIP, different tax line.
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