Your hold period initially could possibly be used as evidence of your intent. 

My lender used an insane 10% cap rate when making the initial loan which is why I made up the gap.

I initially put down 20% on a primary residence loan. 

As consecutive Mac Conway Award Winners for Excellence recipients, Montgomery is well positioned through their "Imagine a Greater Montgomery" initiative to re-shape the city vision.

This is because experienced investors recognize that initial cash flow is not the same thing as actual cash flow received over a long hold period.  

My initial thought was to put enough in savings for a 1 year emergency fund (am I pharmacist so I am risk averse!)

Nice areas overall.What's the question - your initial post mentioned is there something wrong with the area?

Most lenders require that you wait about 6 month to refinance your property to get some of that initial funding back, but "seasoning" would be an element of your long-term (DSCR) time frame to consider.Overall, I would recommend the strategy that works best for you and your lifestyle.

After a few months, we finally found a buyer, but I had to settle for less since I opted to sell the property as is to save on renovation costs.To give you some background, I initially purchased the property for $155k.

This shift underscores the advantages of private money’s agility and long-term outlook, unencumbered by the need for committee approvals or short-term returns.Recently, large funds have been facing challenges due to immobile private equity assets (worth $3.2 trillion) as a result of reduced dealmaking and a slower IPO market leading to delayed investor returns.Meanwhile, state and municipal governments have witnessed a remarkable surge in borrowing to fund affordable housing initiatives totaling nearly $9 billion.