Since most private note lenders cannot borrow the funds to make those loans, however, this same concept would likely not translate to a note investment.... and frankly, there are a lot of folks out there who just say "sure, so long as you keep everything property allocated, there is no problem."  

. ($670,000 pre-approval)          - Problem: After down payment and money being allocated to other areas, I will not have an extra $50,000 for renovations.

I do have a FT job so I just want to make sure that it does not take more time than I would like allocated in taking care of there said duties.

Capital also has a funny way of allocating itself to opportunities, wherever they may be. 

I am intentionally allocating more capital right now to cash flow versus higher GRM properties for safety, not vice versa.  

If you don't have to sell it could drop to zero, as long as it is producing income after expenses and allocations that is all that really counts, for me anyway.  

I currently have about $10k to play with right now (and probably could allocate more if needed) and in 10 years I would like to be making $10k per month in rentals.

I think Jon nailed it; And, the only thing to add is that your basis as a % of the sale price, then that percentage determines the % of principal that is allocated to the basis, the excess is a gain on the sale.

So, let's be clear about how poor someone is before they are the bad kind of poor.I think the first thing that needs to be addressed is the pervasive attitude that poor people have somehow created their own poverty and are simple-minded people that need to have their finances governed by someone else.Just look at the shows showing celebrities trying to buy food for the amount of money allocated to food stamp recipients to see how impossible it is for them to eat on that amount of money for food. 

Maybe instead of dumping more money into the marketing, you just need to allocate the current spend to a different target that yields higher commissions.