I wish I knew all of this before buying those tickets.

@Jason Hawthorne to stay on the North side and secure some property, Ashland City may be your ticket. 

If you do get a private financing deal, make sure you develop a reserve account for any unexpected large ticket items that could occur.Keep in mind that this strategy alone did not produce enough income to support me as a fulltime income, it was after I owned several rental units with partners before I ever went full-time.

Also finding lots of minor maintenance to be done - small plumbing leaks from dried out seals from not being used much the past year, etc.So, big ticket repairs are: - Flooring - Paint - Possible first floor wall removal / remodel etc. - Wood stove needs to be replaced and chimney flue as well, it's out of date about 2 years ago according to fire code. - Kitchen appliances are almost at end of life, cabinets could badly use at least a facelift or full renovation.Obviously we are going to have to sink a fair amount of money in materials alone to this place.

Buy a plane ticket....back to reality.

Which may cost you a bit more but with such a small ticket amount on the loan, the net cost is really negligible...Also, to offer you a point of reference...

I have seen people use 10% for repair/maintenance/other big ticket items. 

I bought my ticket last week and I'm planning on going to MHU in Chicago this June.  

While I can earn higher returns in worse neighborhoods, I like the solid 8% cap rate investment here given good neighborhood, good schools, house less than 20 years old and most big ticket items already taken care of.

CapEx is large ticket items that happen less frequently.