I have good income, good credit, and some cash in the bank, but am also leveraged pretty hard on my current home.So, my thoughts about moving forward look something like this:Try to find a smoking deal which I could purchase and rehab with my savings, get it performing, then borrow money against it to replenish my savings.I don't have any private investors right now, and I suppose that I feel like attracting one, or even getting a portfolio lender, may prove difficult because of my negative cash flow and leverage situation..I guess my question is, if you were in a similar situation, what would think your way forward looked like?

For some people, this is enough to pay off their hard money loan (or replenish their cash), so they don't feel the need to wait 6 months.

It all costs <$200 and rarely, if ever, needs to be replenished.  

Now we're working to replenish our savings and I hope to invest in real estate at some point in the near future.

If you go have an emergency, then replenish it ASAP.

If you ever need to tap into this Savings Account, you convert the income back to an expense until you have replenished the amount you took out.

Just some steady cash-flow could help replenish those reserves.You "chased" a better deal by buying a property that needed work.

Assuming the HELOC would be replenished with monthly rental cash flow.

As you get more rentals, many will agree that your per property reserve could be reduced as hopefully every singe roof and furnace doesn't go out at the same time and will give you the opportunity to replenish the fund.To sum up, get your personal and business lives separated and plan your emergency funds based on your own risk profile for each.

The intent for the $200 fund is mainly so that I dont hold up anything in the process, say there's a leak and she can't get in touch with me, she'll just draw upon the $200 reserve to get a plumber to fix it and we replenish the fund thereafter.