I am looking to start with an initial investment and potentially grow enough that I can live off of the cash flow generated from renting out the homes.

For the most part, I have that it does make financial sense to keep your initial purchase (especially if you put little money down), and it was a relatively inexpensive home.  

My loan originator initially told me that this contingency reserve could either be put back towards principal or released to me.

I turned away an offer week one, took me over a year to sell it and I ended up selling it for the exact same price as that initial offer. 

I do have an initial question. 

This time, I have completely deviated from my rules and through discussions initiated by the tenant were able to have me agree (all our tenants think I am just the property manager and not the owner, btw) to a payment plan.She worked really hard for the past few months, paying most of the rent and sometimes falling behind.

She said they have had multiple offers in the 60's already, so I am guessing other investors see the value in the property and my initial offer was good.  

With that being said, that's why I initially wanted to start small with possibly apartment units and manage them myself....

As always, I enjoy reading from you and your single minded and independent views, even though you challenged the post: the underlying assumption is that the investment of capital ( intellectual, time etc), are undertaken prior to the initial investment decision, afterwhich, it becomes literally auto pilot.Your points are clearly noted and I agree with you that time is needed for the investment to remain current as circumstances that informed the initial decision may change.....Thanks again.

Since I'd be converting from Euros my initial purchase would be interesting but if I'm correct the market isn't quite as interesting as in the states.