Newbie doing the math on cash flow and reserves

[Bridget Pasternak]

Hi everyone, I'm working out details to do my first deal here in Sarasota, FL. I've got money saved in reserves and I'm analyzing cash flow for several different properties. Here is my question- when I am calculating all the variable costs that go into cashflow (repairs, vacancy, CapEx), should I be planning to add those amounts to my reserves every month once I have a tenant (if nothing goes wrong and I don't have to spend that money) or do I just maintain a certain reserve balance and consider the rest of it to be profit once I have a solid reserve balance?