One trend I've seen is that, given the market cycle we're in, small towns / small cities are worth considering as bigger cities seem to fluctuate more with market downturns.

That amount will be saved every month (assuming my income doesn’t fluctuate too much, which unless you are in sales, a real estate agent, etc, shouldn’t matter too much)Sorry I know this is kinda long and kinda went a little more into personal finances, but that’s what I do.

From what I understand cap rates like everything in RE tend to fluctuate, right now they are being pushed lower because it is a somewhat hot area.

I have been doing a lot of rental analyzation, and I seem to see a large fluctuation in rents for the same type of property i.e. 3 Bed 2 Bath.

I've asked many local investors I know how their portfolios were affected when prices dropped ten years ago and most say that rent prices did not fluctuate significantly but vacancy rates increased.

Average projected monthly rental income is around 8-11k (seasonal fluctuation).  

You get more of these situations with low income tenants who have big fluctuations in money all the time and have hard times paying even if they want too.

Do you need certain amount of money to cover mortgage/expenses or can tolerate more fluctuation in occupancy rates throughout the year.

Again really based on your market as it will fluctuate, along with the size of space length of term and overall price per sf.Those numbers do not seem out of whack to me.

As interest rates are fluctuating, use a base of 5% in the beginning and adjust accordingly when the HELOC interest rate nears 4.75%.