I wonder why an agent for the lender would be overly conservative but instead be the opposite to hook the client.

Sorry, I feel like I may be too conservative in my calculations since I'm brand new!!

Keep assumptions conservative. 

I like to think I run fairly conservative estimates (at least compared to the projections we use where I work).

Appraisal values for helocs or refinances are always going to be much more conservative than on a sale.

It appears to me that you are being excessively conservative in your time periods per capital expense. 

Is it correct to assume a conservative rehab cost of $20,000 and a closing cost of $2,500?

Finally made the jump and just bought our first vacation rental.My longtime girlfriend and I emptied out the account and put 60k down on an amazing 300k vacation rental near Bass Lake and Yosemite National Park.By conservative estimates, it should cash flow over $1,000 a month after ALL expenses.As I am still learning on the fly here, I am most interested in the next steps in acquiring the next property (and the next, and the next).The house should appreciate some throughout the year, and it is nearly turnkey as it was wonderfully taken care of by a family for 40 years, so we won't be adding too much value with remodeling.My main question to the BP community is "What's the best options to finance our next purchase of a rental property?".

Purchase price was $80K, and estimated net cashflow after vacancy and capex assumptions (pretty conservative) is about $2300 ~ $3200 annually (based on what I can rent for, which ranged from $1000~$1100 a month). 

You have to look at risk/reward ration ( what is my upside versus downside and conservatively how long will it take to get there?)