New to Real Estate, could use some help in Upstate New York

[Tim Brann]

As stated I'm new to Real Estate but have been reading all the books I can get my hands on in order to educate myself before jumping in.  It's time to get off the sidelines!  Does anyone have experience in the Upstate New York area or somewhere similar?  What I mean by this are low to average costing multi-family homes with above average taxes (#ILoveNY).  Typical Options in this area area as follows;

4 unit house- 190k with 7,500 in taxes and gross rental income of ~2,800-3,000

2 unit house- 115k with 3,000-5,000 in taxes and gross rental income of ~1,500-1,700

Im looking to house hack (live in residence for 1yr) with my first deal and get into the game with low money down (~10k) Without diving into a bunch specifics what I'm after here is what % should I carry for vacancies, repairs, & capital expenditures.

Also with this type of investment my calculated cash flow always seems to be low ~$100/unit. What is a good number to shoot for? Or is using Cash-on-Cash ROI a better route and looking for around 10%?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I embark on my journey towards financial freedom.

Timothy Brann, Syracuse, NY