Monthly Portfolio Report: January 2025
One of my goals with Rental Income Advisors is to be as transparent and data-driven as possible with my readers and my coaching clients. I think the best way to build confidence in a new investor is to actually show the numbers, to prove that rental property investing really does work as advertised.
For those reasons, I publish a monthly report on my portfolio’s performance. I hope that this chronological history paints a clear picture of what it’s like to be a remote landlord. It’s also a great exercise for me to be sure I’m staying plugged in to all my numbers.
Here is the update for January 2025. You can also check out all my previous monthly reports and annual reports.
Property Overview
Property #5 remained vacant in January as it went through its turnover, which I discussed in last month’s update. Fortunately, a new tenant was placed quickly at the higher asking rent of $1,450/mo., and in early February, that tenant moved in.
Meanwhile, another vacancy popped up: one of my tenants at Property #18 vacated suddenly in January, breaking their lease. While I’ll get to retain their security deposit due to the lease break, the turn cost me over $5K — quite disappointing because I had just turned this unit about a year prior. That turn scope is now complete as well, and a new tenant should be placed soon.
But more vacancies are looming: at Property #24, the tenant is being evicted due to a safety violation, and at Property #13, the tenant is leaving after only 1 year because they are relocating out of state.
Rental Income
The two vacancies lowered my rent charged for the month, which would be over $30K if all properties were occupied. Plus, the tenant at Property #11 is once again having payment issues, and did not make rent for the month. This tenant has occupied the property since I bought it in 2019, and has always managed to get current — so we’ll see if that’s the case again here.
Somewhat offsetting that missing rent was the retention of the security deposit at Property #18, as discussed above, leaving me with ~$700 shortfall for the month.
Expenses
This screenshot comes from RentalHero, the online accounting tool I use for my portfolio.
Here’s some insight into my expenses this month:
Maintenance & Repairs: It was a good month for maintenance costs, which came in well below my budgeted monthly average of ~$3K. Just a bunch of small, typical expenses this month, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, garage door, and pest control.
Utilities: This reflects the utilities charges during my vacancies.
Tenant Chargeback: I was reimbursed for several tenant chargebacks that occurred in late 2024 — thus the “negative expense” of $334.55.
The Bottom Line
My financial model currently projects my Memphis portfolio to generate $9,535 of positive cash flow in an average month. This month, my cash flow was $10,861, more than $1K ahead of my target. Despite a few vacancies, my expenses were low, allowing me to slightly exceed my goal.
Finally, here is my monthly cash flow graph. The dotted blue line indicates my projected average monthly cash flow for my portfolio in each given month. While it was a solid start to 2025, the upcoming turns and vacancies will pose a challenge over the next several months:
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About the Author
Hi, I’m Eric! I used cash-flowing rental properties to leave my corporate career at age 39. I started Rental Income Advisors in 2020 to help other people achieve their own goals through real estate investing.
My blog focuses on learning & education for new investors, and I make numerous tools & resources available for free, including my industry-leading Rental Property Analyzer.
I also now serve as a coach to dozens of private clients starting their own journeys investing in rental properties, and have helped my clients buy millions of dollars (and counting) in real estate. To chat with me about coaching, schedule a free initial consultation.
