I'd continue to save away 10-20% till I had 6 months of buffer in case SHTF. 

Don't be afraid to buy a place that will end up have property taken for easements, they can pay pretty well, pay for fences to buffer roadways, extra for trees, drainage and other improvement need to the property. 

Property managers are great as a third party buffer or middle man, this is a business to us, it's not personal.

This strategy requires a solid financial buffer to handle the negative cash flow and any unexpected expenses.

Since there is uncertainty with the Fed raising rates, elections coming up, inflation, etc. we are baking in a big buffer on the ARV.

When there is a spike in their utilities, they don't call me, they talk with each other to handle it.If you decide to do it this way, you'd just need to make sure to have enough of a $ buffer in the utilities account to make sure that if anybody doesn't pay it back, your account doesn't get low or overdraft.

We provide a buffer, that shield you from day to day tenant issues, and are versed in how to handle those situations.

Mind what is the % of property tax that we need to buffer against collected rental as I understand that the property tax will eventually increase due to the huge deficit.

Now, if he owned the properties outright and was sharing in the net proceeds, okay, that gives a buffer. 

Once you've figured out an immediate problem, you get a little further on and discover another one you didn't anticipate.This is one of those times :)So we've got some cash, and some HELOC money, though more HELOC than straight cash at the moment.I have read around the forums that a 'buffer' value beyond the asking price is what sellers really want to see in SOME account.