If you are open to leverage now, why not look at leveraging slightly more for better potential returns. Based on how I am reading your hypo, you are putting 55% down and getting a $200k loan on a $450k purchase price which puts your estimated carrying costs at around $1800 per month, leaving you with $3200k a month in net cash flow (I feel like we are missing a lot of factors like cap ex, management fees, etc, for your carrying costs but I'll go based off what you have here). It seems like if you are confident in your numbers, you could pick up two of these $450k properties by putting 25% down, instead of 55%, which will bump your carrying costs up but you should make up for it in additional cash flow. Let's say the lower down payment amount pushes your cash flow down by $1000 per month so now you net $2200 instead of $3200, well now you'd have $4400 in net cashflow on two of these $5000k a month gross income deals versus the $3200 in your original. Plus you're getting debt paydown, tax depreciation, and potential future price appreciation on two $450k assets instead of just one. You can play with the numbers but I would be surprised if you don't see yourself doing better by leveraging a little more if you think you can replicate your assumed $450k purchase with $5k a month gross income deal.
Best of luck!
