Kudos to you for doing something to create a secondary income stream. there are 5 income streams in RE rentals, possibly six if you do things a certain way.The reality here is your model (buy box) is suffering from too high an entry and too high a cost of capital.

Reserves: Do you have enough cash reserves to handle unexpected costs or delays in refinancing?

Looking for success stories or other experiences , positive or negative, range of costs, etc.

You're absolutely right—positive cash flow from rentals can vary significantly depending on factors like property costs, financing, and the ever changing market conditions.For real estate the challenge isn't just accumulating properties but creating a framework that builds net worth more strategically and sustainably.Cash Flow can be generated in many ways, my intention was to better understand the investor mindset and their approach, if they wanted to share.Based on your example, if using conservative calculations at $100K/door, you would pay $20M for access to $40K/month. 

For instance if I’m looking at potential capital expenditures over the next 5 years and the range of the cost is between $25k and $75k, I would use $75k in my projections.

In the desert it costs me LESS than $20 for water.

.$24K in soft costs (permits impact fees etc)$200K (or less) buildout of the house (size tbd on after-build-appraisal) Likely going with 2/2 A frame 1000 sf.

What is your price range and what do you consider to be a "medium" rehab project, rehab costs = to 25%-50% of the purchase price?

We develop and consult new developers through the full cycle of development.Financing differs from project to project based on your equity, land cost, construction methods, etc.

., to 2.5x or 2.75x) since tenants won’t have additional out-of-pocket utility costs.