Although in the case of vacancy and repairs, it's not about being conservative, it's about being realistic. 

I want to get into real estate but I want to be realistic.  

So I for one think the 30k number in 20 years is a very realistic number to have to live a very nice lifestyle as long as you have no debt or minimal debt. health insurance auto insurance TAx on your home and utls food clothing etc is going to run folks at least 5 to 7k a month.. so what great life is one going to have on 3k a month.

Realistically speaking, I will say that to house hack with that budget and look for a duplex or triplex that is turnkey and in a decent neighborhood, you're not going to find that.

And be realistic if this is something I (or anyone interested) can do. 

And as you see on top of the post, in agriculture it's already happening.So what keeps me up at night is what is a realistic percentage? 

What's a realistic expectation on returns?

I want to get into real estate and want to be realistic on what kind of return is involved.

I work backwards from “what do I want for cash flow per month and by what date” and what is a realistic return and does that get me there?

But as someone who is getting ready for a 1031 myself in the next quarter or so, even if someone can answer this with hypothetical, but REALISTIC numbers, I'd like to see an answer to this.