Successful Real Estate Investors achieve higher rents than others. Some of the investors in our research group followed the 1 percent rule of thumb for rents, getting 1 percent of the property’s market value as the monthly rent (i.e., a $100,000 house would rent for $1,000 per month). When we looked at rents and values in a large number of markets, that rule of thumb seemed too optimistic, particularly for single-family homes. We determined that 0.8 percent for single-family properties was probably more realistic as a rule of thumb. But that rule of thumb didn’t hold up: Many of the successful real estate investors consistently achieved higher-than-average rents. How do they do that?