If you're buy in is only $10k, then maybe grab a personal loan and offset the payment with the cashflow from the deal. 

One we are interested in is in a trust.

Of course you hear a lot about people's success stories... but what I am more interested in is learning from other peoples mistakes (before I potentially make them!)

They keep changing the rules and some have been grandfathered in I think under the new regs.

I give my late policy to all tenants at move-in. I

I could do more deals if I was willing to be more leveraged, but all that results in is me losing more hair because I start to stress about it!

I also find your story delightful, and glad your wisdom kicked in.  I

Secondly, getting a multi-family you live in is usually cheaper. 

When I got tenants in, I aggressively built up a $15,000 reserve before I gave myself any breathing room.Nowadays, I make sure that I have $15,000 + $10,000 per property stocked away in a high yield savings account.

One of the BP books I ordered that I am interested in is Raising Private Capital, which is essentially a how-to guide for almost anyone in any financial position and how they can continually build their portfolio by working with others and their money.