And when you're looking at a 30 year time horizon that's "retirement age" for a lot of people here. 

Nor do I think that there is a sharp drop looming on the horizon.  

@Dan Barth That depends on your investing/financial experience, time horizon, expected growth in income, savings rate and constraints. 

All depends on your budget and investment horizon.

You have a costly reno on the horizon.

So its all depending on where you buy in the cycle and your time horizon.

My initial goals are to develop a single-family home portfolio in the ABQ area that will grow and create cashflow, then as I approach that 10 year horizon, to sell off some of them, pay off the rest, and live on the cashflow.

, my suggestion would be to even broaden your horizon, looking at commercial places.. 5 units+, or perhaps buildings with commercial on 1st floor and 2 units (or more) above. 

Finally getting to your question about acceptable Cap Rate: It depends on your goals and time horizon.

I have personally gone through that cycle and am now at that point where I see delegation on the horizon.