Budget for purchasing a rental multi-family home (2-4 units)

[James Z.]

Hi, we hope to get advice on how to decide the budget for purchasing a rental multi-family home (2-4 units). Currently, there are three of them on the market in a small area that we are interested in, but their selling prices and potential rental income are different. The lower priced home will use about 60% of our max loan approval amount; the middle priced home will use about 75%; the higher priced home will use > 90%. Would it be safer to purchase the lower priced home, in case of situations like vacancies or tenants not paying rent? Thank you and all advice are greatly appreciated!