I don't think there are suddenly so many primary home buyers with so much of cash to spare for buying in cash as well as repairs and make it their primary home.

If you're in college, you can buy a home with a fha loan and then rent out your spare bedrooms and hand the roommates in essence cover your mortgage payment. 

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If I had plenty of time to spare, I probably would have listed the property at $140k or higher but I had absolutely no time to lose so we listed at $5,000 below the listing agent's recommendation at $129,900.

You still won’t avoid the expense, but the earlier you catch it, the better chance you have in making other adjustments to reduce the impact on the total budget.These are two which I always had trouble with and now spare a small expense upfront to help me determine if I need to make some changes to my budget.  

My tenants receive 2 or 3 keys when they move in and I keep a spare. 

I've seen this done by college students who are renting a place with an extra bedroom and airbnb the spare with approval of their owner and this would be somewhat similar.

But first you have to look at yourself and assess what your appetite for risk and what you can actually spare money-wise to apply towards real estate investing.  

If all you can spare is 1 hour cold calling, then you're going to have to expect it to take a while.

I've seen tenants arrive with an hour to spare and got it done.