From there we also discovered Afford Anything and the BP podcasts, where we realized that we wanted to go the real estate route, while still investing in low cost index funds on the side.  

Half of that in an index fund would get you close to that, maybe 60-80k.

Of course there is also insurance and taxes and maintenance (still well lower than the $1500 for stocks) but it is an asset that will appreciate (specifically where I buy) and if there is a crash I still get the rent.I do also invest in stocks using a method called Iron Condor on the S&P500 Index.

Savings, CDs and Index Funds.

Most likely your father would not owe any gift tax, assuming he hasn't used his lifetime exemption (indexed for inflation, currently around 5.5 million).

Im looking to buy my 3rd property with some vangaurd index funds i have saved up.

Affordability index?

You can definitely get a better return on that capital, and some would say you could do better simply by putting the money in an index fund.

There's a Millionaire Real Estate Investor book, too.And create a database now -- whether it's index cards in a box, a free CRM, or a paid one, it will pay to have a database with systematic follow-up scheduled for you.My focus right now is systematizing my Met Database (and adding another 250 Mets this year), and systematically contacting a running list of 100 local FSBOs. 

Ask for the "Deed Index" for a specific property address & owner name.