Rule of thumb for how much to have in reserves

[Mike Carlson]

Hello, everyone!

My general question is how much should you have saved up in reserves to pay for large ticket, "emergency" type items on your properties? 

We are newbies just getting started. My wife and I purchased our first investment property a few months ago. $195,000 for a commercial building with 4 office spaces and an apartment above. We are setting money aside from rental income each month to save up for maintenance/capital expenditures. We have personal savings to be able to pay for personal emergencies and big ticket things that may unexpectedly come up at our home residence. 

Of course we are now thinking about the next deal and what type of property we want to look for and also what we can afford. How does the amount of reserves you have play into your next purchase?

Thank you!