I have never owned property. Now, I'm considering buying a 3-family home, living in 1 apartment and renting out the other 2. I'm trying to run the numbers to see if this makes financial sense, but I'm stuck on one: maintenance and repair costs. How do you usually estimate something like this before you have a specific property in mind? Any place I buy would need to be in decent condition with good bones, but it would probably be around 100 years old (give or take.) This is in the Boston area. What number would you use?
And if anyone has experience with this in the Boston area and feels like sharing any general tips, I'd be very grateful!