Monthly Portfolio Report: October 2023
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 October 2023. You can also check out all my previous monthly reports and annual reports.
Property Overview
Property #20 remained vacant in October during the rent-ready work. The turn is complete at the time of writing, and we’re getting good traction from prospective tenants on the listing. We should have a new resident in place soon.
The eviction in one unit of my duplex (Property #18) was completed in early November, so I continue to count it as “occupied, but rent uncollected” for October. As hoped, the turn was relatively quick & easy (~$3K of expense) because I had already rehabbed that unit a few years ago. Those costs will be reflected in November’s report.
Meanwhile, the tenant at Property #22 did ultimately decide to vacate at the end of October, after expressing some displeasure at my multi-year plan to raise their rent to market rate. This one will be a pretty big turn, including both CapEx and true expense items. I’ll talk about this in next month’s report, when the costs will be reflected — but it was not a surprise. This is one of those “first turns” that I expected to be larger based on the condition of the property when I bought it. The good news is that we’ll be able to get a market rate tenant in place after the turn (~$1200, vs. the $825 the existing tenant was paying.) In fact, this was the goal when I bought the property last year, so in that sense this turn is a good development, despite the costs.
Rental Income
Not a typo! The over-collection this month is due to my PM’s promised reimbursement of lost rent during the eviction at Property #20 hitting my account. They also helped out with the turn costs, which will be reflected below, and also in next month’s report due to the timing of those accounting changes.
All other rents were collected by the end of the month — though worryingly, one tenant was unpaid until the 29th…fingers crossed.
Expenses
This screenshot comes from RentalHero, the online accounting tool I use for my portfolio.
Several unusual things happening in my expenses this month:
Insurance: This was the month where my insurance policies renewed. For the handful of properties that I own outright without a mortgage, I have to pay those insurance premiums out of pocket (rather than my lender paying them out of escrow), leading to the $3K of insurance expense for the month.
Maintenance & Repairs: No big expenses this month, just a host of typical small stuff that left me well below my repair budget for the month.
Utilities: Utilities charges for my vacant properties. $200 of this is a security deposit that should eventually be refunded when the tenant moves in and puts the utility account in their name.
Tenant Chargeback: A plumbing issue caused by foreign objects in the pipes was charged to the tenant. It’s an expense for me until the tenant makes the payment to my PM, at which point I’ll be reimbursed.
Legal Fees: The legal fees associated with the eviction at Property #20 were refunded.
The Bottom Line
My financial model currently projects my Memphis portfolio to generate $8,598 of positive cash flow in an average month. This month, my cash flow was $14,408, nearly $6K above my projected average. This was obviously due primarily to the lost-rent accommodation I received.
Finally, here’s the running tally and graph I update each month. The dotted blue line indicates my projected average monthly cash flow for my portfolio in each given month. With this month’s surplus, I’m now back in the green for the yea! Unfortunately, with significant turn expenses at two properties coming in November, that’s not likely to last:
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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.
