It's pretty safe and you can scale a lot faster.

After years of sticking with a job I hated and saving up enough money to feed my family for a little while, I decided to quit my "safe and stable" job to chase the dream!

So, is it safe to assume that you are forced to seek alternative financing? 

If you are knocking out all the major capital costs up front before renting that number of $120 per month may be higher than what you need (not the end of the world...I find it better to be safe than sorry). 

Is it "too safe"?

So while I feel very lucky to have had a handful of  "safe" opportunities to take action and gain insight,  I know this in no way qualifies me as an investor. 

Not just a house, but a place that they can come back to at day's end to relax, be comfortable and feel safe.   

I'm not new to investing, but I am new to re-investing cashflow and I haven't found much if any info on what a "safe" amount of reserves would be. 

Where can we invest money for a safe return above 5%?

In the event of a slight downturn it would be safe to build additional vacancy losses or rent reductions into your pro-forma so that your property still cash flows well. 2.