I would love to have that money each month as a cushion and to reinvest.

I am using 6% for commission to sell, 1% closing costs, 3% consession to buyer and 2% cushion off the ARV.

The biggest issue with buying at retail is if you NEED to sell for some reason you don't have any equity cushion to tap into.

If the seller is managing, you want to see receipts as back-up.If you're investing $100,000, you need another $10,000 in cash as a cushion, as an absolute minimum; I prefer double that.

Companies will build like gang busters for 5yrs then all of sudden pick up and leave, so will the population.As Ned stated buy right with enough cushion to sustain long term.

A 30-year mortgage (and taxes and insurance) would easily be covered by the rent and I'd have a cushion of $300/month for repairs.

The banks want to know if your NOI is going to be sufficent to cover your debt service, with about a 20% cushion for error.

Just need a bit of a cushion to get this tenant out, do some updating and sell or re-lease.

But any one property in any given year could have a couple of one-time capital expenditures that will completely blow up your planned cash outlay for the year.So make sure you are giving yourself enough of a cash cushion just in case.

If prices are falling, you want to have an equity cushion.