I love to know everything I can find out about people when it comes to business and this help to gage ourselves and set benchmarks.

A minimum of 20% equity is my benchmark, ensuring I dont find myself upsupside down on my investment.Positive Cash Flow by the Conclusion of Year One:I aim for a positive cash flow figure at the end of the first year.

The biggest proponents of the 50% rule will most all tell you it is not a perfect rule, but a benchmark to work from.

Not just friendly but one who prepares them to run your processes with clear expectations and benchmarks for success.

Regarding the 1% 2%,  3% ...rule- It's great to understand these rules but you should eventually establish your own finance ROI benchmarks & hurdle rates.  

This is a good solid benchmark on how you move forward.  

So I would go and look at recently sold properties and see where that benchmark is.

It might be a good bench mark for me to know whats realistic Sorry I haven't been on here in a while nor answered your question.Well in my market rentals go for $160-300k/ unit depending on the submarket and if it's a newer build, value-add or rehab.So it's very difficult to say and it depends on your own personal finances.But for buy and hold I've purchased 22 units in 2016, 6 units in 2017, and a few in 2018 and 12 u in 2019 Some were local Los Angeles County and some are in SE Florida.I also sold several properties in LA last year, some were hybrid hold/flips and more development deals...Also asking how many units could be completely different in a market like OKC or Utah where you can likely get units cheaper, OR the market might not have larger apartments, unless it's in a larger metro like Salt Lake.. so it really depends. 

This is even more true if is section 8, where the rents are inflated normally by being benchmarked to some metric that includes higher rent properties but where the property prices to buy are still depressed because well its not a great area. 

I am not suggesting you buy there, but it is a good benchmark to compare to.