All of this unplanned attention has brought me much success without self promotion.BP is about helping each other without any expectations. 

It can be a medical emergency or sudden loss of a job or unplanned change of residence.How to save money?

I also "took a break" after high school and after undergrad (having an unplanned pregnancy during) and STILL went back to finish both.

I have $$$ saved up to cover the acquisition costs and also unplanned expenses.Am I missing anything? 

Unbudgeted/unplanned capital/maintenance expendituresObviously, you want to be careful about encouraging any of the aforementioned.

We bought in a great neighborhood 15 years ago, have had zero unplanned vacancy and make a decent income.I agree, though, it's currently pretty hard to find nice 2-4 unit properties (or fixer uppers) where the numbers work (1% rule) in Madison.

Today I had an HVAC unit go out at my own home and spent an unplanned 1/2 day figuring that thing out.

If you can get a place in Dallas and rent out the other rooms to cover most or all of your PITI and maybe even living expenses, you should be coming out ahead.When you save up enough for another down payment plus some cash reserves to handle the unplanned expenses, then do your additional investing out of state. 

If you fill the unit a week after they leave, you've done a lot of unplanned work for no extra money.