I've seen a lot of people here say "save up a down" and "have a good cushion." 

There is ample profit cushion for the borrower to pay back. 

Instead of working less at home inspecting work more, get out of "bad debit " then get a financial cushion and downpayment...Allot of Ramsey fans on here apparently.

You have to have some sort of a cushion in your calculations.

I ballparked the Insurance amount, listing agent stated 2k/annually but I wanted to leave more of a cushion.

Most lenders require a minimum of 2 months' "cushion" up front to get the escrow accounts started, and that money is collected at closing. 

You'd be looking at 4800sf if you get the full benefit of the upside, and you'd you see $3.85M (Not too long ago people were paying $1k psf... but you'll never see 4.8M out of this property... at least not this go-around) ~ But I always look to add a big cushion on the reno side, hence my $800K-$1M range in initial post. 

I'd make sure you have a cushion of cash in case one (or both) decide to leave and you have to spend a month or more finding new tenants.

This way I am taking advantage of the benefits of leverage, (appreciation of a larger amount than what I have in the deal, tax benefits, more units etc.) and I have a cushion of houses that do not have a mortgage so I have good enough cash flow to handle market fluctuations. 

Now seeking to do it earlier with more cushion.