Purchase price: $250,000 Cash invested: $5,000 This was a property my wife and I purchased to live in while fixing it up with the idea of renting it out.

I would say you want to keep your cash to close to $15k or less so you have a little bit of runway if it takes some time to get it rented.How does someone truly manage a property "effectively" from a distance?

Would it make sense to save up money to buy something cash, finance, wait for market to cool down, etc.

Cash to close is around 47-48k with a 5% conventional to house hack.

Self storage  did a deal for him were I gap funded it buyer needed to close in 3 days there is 400k in equity I  put up 75k to close the deal and we get 100k back when it sold no matter what its sold for plus cash flow..

Let's say you want to stay conservative and only take 50% LTV, or $500,000.00, so that you don't have to sell anything in case of a market correction and there's a margin call.Step 2:  Purchase a rental property, all-cash, with that $500,000. 

If you're goal is to keep it, you could take a short term personal loan or cash advance with your credit card.

The bid price is $281,000, and I have $180,000 in cash.

Very good cash flow and it has definitely appreciated over the year I had it.  

Focusing on multifamily properties for better income and cash flow potential makes sense, given the current market conditions.