I even included that in my "Debt Strategies" presentation that I give at local events.

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

Maintain - includes taxes and insurance?

A 1031 exchange doesn’t apply, but funding through a self-directed IRA can defer taxes, though profits from debt financing may trigger UBIT.To reduce taxes, consider forming an LLC for better expense deductions, offsetting gains with investment losses, or holding the property for 12+ months to qualify for lower long-term capital gains rates.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.

Would be curios if folks have also just included the cost of utilities at this price and left it unpermitted.

I'm glad to be included on this platform with like minded interests.

This has also allowed us to provide some excellent incentives for our investors, locking in long term debt currently at 3.75%  through our in house financing program.

-Interest rate of 5% is much lower than market interest rates. 7-8%+-There are no capex reserve considerations included. 5% is a starting point.

A) The $40K cash on hand was not including my emergency fund and merely represented what I wanted to stick to as a low ~10% DP or to be used for a small refresh/reno. 

Now we are mostly scaling our business with larger communities but I've used many different creative finance strategies including seller finance, private lending, hard-money, collateral from other properties, and lease-options.