I had no clue about real cash flow on a property, about capital expenditures, etc. etc. had never heard of bigger pockets, my only resource was a local real estate agent I was working with who knew about VA loans.

You cant get this wrong.Numbers such as, potential monthly rent of each unit, vacancy factor, capital expenditure factor, repairs, maintenance, property taxes, insurance, utilities...etc.

Those who don't factor in capital expenditures and may be content with just having their mortgage paid for because they were greedy and bought at a high price back in 06 or 07.

House 3: Sounds like you live in this one30k coming your way: Invest in House 4 :) I'm always a fan of cash flow.If you don't have Capital Expenditures accounts for House 1 and House 2, you might want to jump start those with some money from this pool.

Central HVAC for that small is an expensive expenditure. 

One off items will be considered capital expenditures and are considered non-recurring costs to continue operating the property.

That could be a real problem because they could cause alot of damage, not pay rent, and you might not of account for that in your expenditure.5.

As a general comment, make sure you keep good records and review your property performance REGULARLY.Make sure that you are setting aside reserves for Capital Expenditures (CAPex) 10%, Vacancy Reserves (10%), and Property Management fees (10%).

Also, as you will become a landlord, make sure you have a reserve budget for repairs/maintenance and perhaps capital expenditures.

We commonly find that between deferred maintenance and capital expenditures, the investor spends much more in the initial stages than they had planned.