Expense Ratio Rule of Thumb

People often ask me, what's a fair rule of thumb for an expense ratio? Our best performing property, from an expense ratio standpoint, hovers around 26 %. We have only one other property below 30%. Both are direct build city utilities and sport, nearly 100% tenant on homes. Underwriters want certainty. It makes things easy. It makes thing quick. However, like miles experienced, while his rules of thumbs weren't necessarily wrong, they caused him to almost miss a deal.