I figured that would be the case if something comes up to have a buffer for extra expenses.

If a lender saves you $200/month on the payment but you spend an extra $8k in fees, you didn't get the terms you think.

And short periods of time generally expose the investor to lots of extra risks including execution risk, refinance risk, interest rate risk, etc.

@Raza Rizvi A benefit of an LLC is that it can provide extra liability protection for you. 

Then you add in the extra expenses and the money is quickly gone.

I've seen a lot of conflicting advice that cautions to avoid areas with high crime rates due to complications and extra costs from the tenant base and property crime.I understand that both cities have shown crime rate improvements, but their overall rates are still way above average.What makes these cities attractive for investment despite this?

I knew it would appraise ok.Had a buyer with an agent that wanted $4k in closing costs, so they offered the $10k extra.

So my challenges will be either to find a lender willing to accept debt for the down payment or raising the entire capital stack but I'm not sure I would have enough 'friends' to raise that much and the more members in the LLC, the more it acts like a security.When I stated 'avoiding the bank requirements,' I was referring to the process of going through committee approval, extra documentation, negotiating any covenants, etc. 

Not so much in actual terms of the deal (although that can be intricate also) but for the effects on the seller and/or their portfolio.

For example, if you are doing a rental arbitrage model and paying 1000 in rent 300 in utilities I would at least double this to make a profit cover depreciation of the furnishings and leave some extra breathing room just in case.