When determining gross income, many factors can come into play besides salary.

When I was trying to determine demand for our area, I selected about 20 listings near the location I was focused on, and tracked them for several months.

A reserve is unnecessary, but I still keep around $15,000 - $20,000 in my account.The point is, that you should sit down and assess your finances to determine what the worst-case scenario may look like, how much you would need to cover it without impacting your life, and whether you will need to build a reserve.

I earned good money as a server and simply used it to go on my next adventure and that was all I really needed.

@Chris Seveney, you simply DON'T UNDERSTAND how investments work.  

Comparable sales is how the value is determined.

Most often because of wildfire risk or simply because it's an STR, but sometimes because of the high property value.  

Your success in real estate will be determined by you ultimately.

Consult a lender to determine the best option for your goals.IF you want to preserve section 121, you should think abt selling your hour to S-corp.

Simply trying to beat big box/Costco pricing and their retail prices aren't less.