Borrow as little as possible - I'm a very conservative person by nature.

I am also being conservative with the mortgage numbers.

Buying single house is about as conservative as one can get.

Not for a conservative beginner like you. 

I am a more conservative investor, so I would budget 40% expenses which gives a buffer for unexpected issues and eases my mind :)

Over time, I suspect I will become more conservative and have more equity in my properties, lowering the RoE but also lowering risk.HTH

I will definitely get going on getting the houses in tip top shape and get them ready for the market.I would like to keep my holdings in California in possible, but I am not seeing anything in Sacramento that makes it worthwhile of executing a 1031 exchange at the moment.I will definitely do my due diligence and interview property managers along with verifying their references.Since this will be my first multifamily investment, I probably will be conservative and used the cash flow generated to amass the capital needed for future investment. 

Note: I'm rather conservative in my decisions, so personally I'm more comfortable taking a smaller piece and not having to worry about stretching my credit too thin.

I have identified an apartment complex that will have slight + cash flow with conservative expense/revenue estimates and 100% financing. 

I have been much more conservative on the projects taken on than many though.