Rent roll
List each unit's beds, condition, current rent, and market rent. Mark vacancies instead of filling them with hope.
Underwrite the duplex, triplex, or fourplex as one asset.
Two to four units fail when one rent is copied across every door. Model each unit, the shared expenses, and the debt coverage before you use a single-family rule of thumb.
2026-017 · OakridgeSmall multifamily
OverviewBudgetScheduleTasksFiles
Total budget$632,500of $650,000
Costs to date$318,72049% complete
Projected value$980,000On track
Land$95,000Complete
Hard costs$166,450On track
Soft costs$32,180On track
Financing$23,090On track
Shared costs
Taxes, insurance, water, trash, lawn, reserves, and any owner-paid utilities sit on the building, not inside one unit.
Value and debt
NOI and DSCR decide a hold. A resale or refinance value still needs comps or an income approach you can explain.
Rehab by unit
Scope turnover and building systems separately so a roof is not buried in a per-door cosmetic budget.
One vacant unit is the stress case that matters
Illustrative fourplex. Four units at $1,400 is $5,600 scheduled rent. A 7% vacancy and credit allowance leaves $62,496 effective gross income. Operating costs are itemized, not a mystery percentage: tax $8,000, insurance $3,200, water $2,400, repair reserve $4,800, grounds $1,200.
Operating expenses$19,600
Net operating income$42,896
Price used for this screen$620,000
Cap rate on that price6.9%
Debt at $3,100 per monthDSCR about 1.15
Coverage is thin. A second month of vacancy beyond the 7% allowance, or a water bill that belongs to the owner and was left out, pushes DSCR through 1.0. Small multifamily analysis software should make that unit-level stress obvious. Do not buy because the cap rate matches a blog average.
Common questions
What this strategy page will and will not decide for you.
Why not use a house flipping rule on a fourplex?
The 70% rule is a resale screen. A 2 to 4 unit hold lives or dies on income, expenses, reserves, and the loan. You can still estimate a resale, but it is a second exit, not the first.
Should every unit use the same rent?
Only if you have evidence they would. Condition, beds, and whether the tenant is under a current lease change the number. Write the exception down.
Where do building systems go?
Roof, boiler, electrical service, and paving are building costs. Put them in the rehab scope and in reserves. They are not a per-unit paint allowance.
Does Rehabfolio replace apartment property-management software?
For a small investor portfolio, the property record can hold the rent roll, expenses, and files. Large-operator leasing desks and trust accounting are a different product category.
What if I might flip one unit conceptually?
You generally cannot sell one unit of a small multifamily without a legal split. Underwrite the parcel you can actually convey.
Keep the numbers, work, files, and outcome connected.
Every strategy starts the same way: analyze the deal before you commit. Run one free analysis in your browser. No account and no card for that screen.