@Tim Hendricks, I am planning to buy 4 - 5 but gradually.

In our case, we never charge for renewals, and because we choose hard early, we tend to get long term rentals, with gradual, acceptable increases where needed. 

But economists expect our economy to gradually regain its footing in 2021, with gross domestic product rising 5%.

The decrease in population isn’t drastic, but it has been on the decrease gradually over the past 10 years. 10 years ago it’s was at a population of about 8,000 and now about 5600.

If for simplicity you assume you buying deals that meet the 1% rule, I think you'll see the DTI is more constant and your DTI goes up more gradual. 

But I have not noticed whether or not if water gradually decreases. 

I'm going to be gentle and gradual with rent increases and renovating the interiors. this is one of the reasons why the owners decided to sell to me instead of a larger investor/ developer that was going to be aggressive and displace all the tenants right away. several of these tenants are Legacy tenants.

The thought is to gradually bring in investors to our fund as we develop larger projects.  

Any suggestions on how / where to 'park' any excess money while I wait for those investments to gradually materialize?

I am a relatively new real estate investor who is looking to gradually build my portfolio by investing in good appreciating zip codes in the Memphis area.