@Benjamin Kelley If your student loans are federal loans you have a lot of options if you end up in a bad situation for some unforeseen reason.

.$1100 in rents = Gross rents of $13,200minus taxes, insurance and mort. payment = NOI of $6950 yr.what % should I use for unforeseen repairs / vacancy--5% ?

That is probably how it is with these renovation shows they know there is a problem, but for drama they act like it was an unforeseen problem.

Unforeseen red-tape /expenses 7.

Dale, actually, we found almost the opposite of that -- with every property we buy, we learn things we did not know before due to unforeseen problems.

If I need to add more money to the IRA, because of unforeseen expenses, will that be legal? 

And if the property cash flows like it should, maybe the rental profits are used to pay that down.Ultimately, the intent is to keep as much money in your pocket as you can so you can use that money should something unforeseen arise.

Remember that even if you do get 4k cash flow from rentals, there are always unforeseen expenses and vacancies to account for. 

Although the 203k factors in a contingency fund, you will almost without a doubt end up wanting or having to do unforeseen repairs.Lastly, a $300k renovation is a pretty sizeable project.

My budget was $3k but ended up being $3600 for unforeseen problems.