How much "skin in the game" should I estimate for each unit?

[Guille Valdes]

Hi!

I am a newbie in my education and research phase, looking to buy my first rental property in 2022. My plan is to start now and scale this rental property business by buying 1 unit on year 1, 2 on year 2 , 4 on year 3, 8 on year 4, 16 on year 5 and then keep buying at least 16 units each year for 22 more years.

I know these are just estimates and goals, but I have been wondering how much cash should I expect to put of my pocket when my plan is to finance 100% of each deal (at least for the first 5 years) using a combination of: traditional lending, private lending, seller financing and partnerships. And when I say 100%, I'm including purchase price, closing costs and repairs (keeping reserves out of this equation).

I guess the question would be: if you are an experienced investor who has planned to finance 100% of the costs of your purchases, have you been able to actually finance 100% or, if not, what's an average of money you've had to put out of pocket for each unit you have bought? If you have the average cost per unit, that would be great too, for reference.

Thanks!