Debt for a cash flowing investment property in a good neighborhood with a minimum 25% equity stake doesn't make me nervous for the following reasons:  the debt makes the property less of a target for lawsuit scammers,  re-fi loan proceeds are tax free money for me to spend,  with a 20 year loan a decent amount of debt is retired every 5-7, and market appreciation is icing on the cake.

Within a year my wife and I acquired four multi-families properties with a total of 20 units, and eventually another building to rent out (currently a bait and tackle shop) as well as an Ice House.

Cash flow is great if you can get it, but it's the icing, not the cake.Consider that Denver has averaged 6% year-over-year appreciation for more than 40 years.

They came out the first day and found the condenser completely iced over and began thawing. 

The icing on top of these joys - to the extent the property is depreciable in the hands of the recipient - it is an ORDINARY gain, and not a capital gain. 

Performing arts center, excellent foodie scene, minor league baseball, minor league hockey.

Very informative and gives an interesting look at investors' experience in this market.But courtesy first, my husband and I are "out"-out-of-state investors, looking for deals in NE and East of Downtown.For the past 3 months, we've been researching and submitting offers on properties to match the COMPS and rejected.Our budget is about $100K, stretching it to 120K for the right property + rehab.The problem is that we had to offer low-balls for the numbers to work, and then get rejected.It seems it's a narrow fit to BRRR, hence the cashflow is "on edge" here.Doesn't appreciation suppose to be the icing on the top?

Some apartments might be burning hot and others cold as ice.  

If they push back and need more icing on the cake, consider offering an equity share arrangement.

Also, for the same reason there are 20 different restaurants that fry chicken differently, or places to get ice cream, or cars to drive, or churches to attend.