I could  do a FHA loan with the $4k but I want to have a bit of a cushion to work with when things go wrong such as various capital expenditures.

My primary questions when analyzing deals stem from what percentage you should be allocating for capital expenditures, repair and maintenance, and vacancies.  

It will seem like an enormous, wasteful expenditure at times.

I have created a spreadsheet that considers repair and maintenance (~between 5% to 10%) and capital expenditure (~7.5%).

While it takes a few months to get the pipeline flowing, you can make a healthy amount without experience or expenditures.

Woody’s largest expenditure in 2004–-$21,515 for workshops and training–-was an educational expense incurred to prepare for a new career, i.e., real estate investor and renter, rather than to maintain or improve skills in an ongoing business or career.

But sadly, I think its much lower than that:You aren't budgeting for capital expenditures -- you should.

@Vernon BrownI'm not sure if you've accounted for things such as vacancy, repairs, capital expenditures, property management, etc... when finding your numbers.

.: 5% (I've read to use this %)Capital Expenditures: Unsure (I'm not even sure what this field is for)Property Mgmt: 10%FUTURE ASSUMPTIONSAnnual Income Growth: 2% - saw Brandon Turner use these numbers in a webinar, unsure here.Annual PV Growth: 2%Annual Expenses Growth: 2%Sales Expenses: 10%Any advice or guidance is much appreciated.

They are new construction, so there will be no maintenance expense in the first year, little in the following few years and very little capitol expenditures for several years.