In December I am leaving for a year to deploy with my Army reserve unit.

I guess my questions are:How much cash reserves should we have on deck before we purchase our first property?

So I see a foreclosure on Hubzu and make a bid,My bid didn’t even come close to the reserve and was very shocked they accepted it.

I would look for a 70-100k property that has at minimum, a 10% cap rate AFTER making sure to include all actual expenses + a 10% maintenance reserve and a 5% vacancy reserve. 

Vacation rentals in buildings managed by central reservations (think ski areas or other large resort areas) can be enticing. 

I tried researching this but could not find any info to confirm this.

Are you using commercial to refer to business-style properties (office, storefronts, etc) while reserving multifamily to refer to 5+ unit residential? 

Including only things that are "In Play" investmentwise.Leaving things out such as your wife's wedding ring, jewelry, your personal home(s), personal vehicle(s), boat, snowmobile, camper, personal cash reserves, etc...It depends on what you want to see decisionwise.Good Luck!

If you had 10 houses renting at 1400 worth 200k that "just" break even (of course have the reserves to cover bad months), you are building equity at $14,000 a month in the loan paydown, and you now have $500,000 in "free" equity that you have accumulated. (25% of $200k x 10).

So it's just another bill you have to look out for and remember to pay...doesn't come with the taxes, easy-to-overlook generic envelope, no autopay options, etc.So it's more like a debt to me and it was good to find out (and have confirmation) that we can pay it off....which is sounding better and better as I type....