My philosophy with inherited tenants is always to raise rent just under what it would be if the unit was fully updated.

He basically affirmed my philosophy which is to specialize.

My middle ground actually follows @Scott Trench philosophy which is to have a significant amount of liquidity in the bank to cover my personal expenses (currently 3 months, next goal is 1 year), then to have 10k in the bank per rental for repairs and vacancies.

I didn't include the $50k in your numbers because I am a firm believer of the Millionaire Next Door philosophy which, if you are familiar, basically states that that is money for which you did not work and therefor are statistically likely to lose.Also, you can live your lifestyle forever...we're currently living in a 35' bus and flipping houses full time. 

Also, make sure they have a solid and standardized renovation approach to mitigate your maintenance costs as much as they can.Also, should have passion and a philosophy dedicating their careers to providing clients high quality inventory and service with a focus on creating profitable real estate investments that provide secure and steady returns for investors.

I think that whole philosophy “selling off market for 3% less” is horrible plan.  

@Scott Passman Start with your own beliefs and your own philosophy first.

I would prefer to be the bank.That being said , I understand that some investors have no issues with high amounts of leverage.there are many ways to run a business.I believe Warren buffet and Bill Gates both have the philosophy that they wanted enough 12 months of cash on the boos in order to run there respective companies for one year without any income.

WIN-WIN that's my philosophy Lessons learned?

My wife and I have a simple philosophy that serves us well, and it helps us answer the "should we renovate/update XX".Would we be happy moving into our rental?