But if you want to play it safe, you can also try post-foreclosures on sites like auction.com.

I do have one thing that my "cautious mind" keeps wanting to clear out.I'm looking for a contract I can use that's legal that will allow me to send to agents, or a FSBO that keeps me safe in a wholesale deal and allows me to transfer it to someone else.

Early retirement has been one of my goals since I began working and I initially decided to do it through mutual fund investing since that seemed to be a pretty safe choice.

OR what would be a safe number to put down on my analysis?

If you are happy with an annual lease, that should be a pretty safe bet in most places, but if you're talking about short-term rentals, make sure you're somewhere between Kissimmee and Davenport in a neighborhood that permits it.

@Jeff Lehman just to be safe and for accounting purposes you should keep track of the interest and upon the tenant moving out disburse any interest to the tenant.

Also you want reserves for your first deal.... just so you are safe 

As for me, I'm going to continue playing it safe, or as safe as possible these days. 

Someone already store my weed trimmer off my front lawn this year.... so you can see why I was thinking a shed for safe storage.

I'm not as picky on the actual free cash flow to say it must return at least $X, but I typically get between $100-$150.I buy things stupid cheap....many folks call them "Class C" units, but we keep them clean, safe, and functional.