Let's say a house is going for $100,000 and I put it under contract and don't get a buyer, how much would I need in order to close on it myself if I have no other contingency plan?  

Say a purchase price of $ 300,000 plus $ 30,000 in repairs.  

So I'd say as long as the prop has been rented for at least a year, but not MORE than three years (because then you wouldn't have lived in it for 2 years within the past five), then you can qualify for both the Sec 121 exclusion and a 1031 exchange.

I would say as @Nathan Emmert eludes to I have seen a decent amount of my cash flow disappear on capex items but I'm working on that :)@Nathan Emmert thanks for your reply, I agree with you about our NJ taxes and struggle with the idea of continually investing in this area.

I would say a VA loan is not going to pencil out.

White Center has come along way in the past 2 years and I would say as far as home prices go it's still somewhat affordable to purchase a home in.  

The returns on this can be 15 - 20% IRR over say a 5 year hold that includes income paid out to investors along the way in the area of say 8-10% CoC. 

Well, you aren't too far off the mark but I would add some thoughts in about what you say. - "A" grade properties typically aren't going to cash flow much.

Most likely, they would insist on some time period, say a few years, to get paid.

But can it provide data I can use to justify my offer or evaluation to say a hard money lender and the seller if he/she asks.