I make a pretty good income, and I have access to credit in a major emergency. 

Any recommendation on any emerging market around the country to consider to find a cash flow property?

Among other considerations, I've strongly encouraged my father to keep a significant cash reserve and to apply for a HELOC – to be kept as an emergency line of credit, not used, of course.

We put 9k down and redid the whole place for about 5k (crazy amounts of work ourselves) left us with about 6k in reserves that we quickly built back up to 10k for our emergency fund.  

We have about $6K in our emergency fund but will have to tap in to that a little bit as the starter fees for my wife's real-estate broker career come due shortly.

I envision a community with pools, clubhouse, social gatherings, shuttles to nearby shopping and medical, "handyman" type services to help seniors with maintaining their homes and yards, someone who can run errands, etc.

Technically, because it doesn’t have a window large enough to escape from in an emergency, it can’t be considered an extra bedroom, but we set it up to be used that way.

But just like any business, you want to have enough cushion so you can handle emergencies, unforseen circumstances, and opportunities.

This doesnt tell you much but it usually has the number of the "servicing company" to contact in the event of emergency.  

I'm just now on the verge of investing, and my capital comes from 2 primary sources: employment as a medical professional for nearly 25 years, plus the great  appreciation from the house we used to own - but sold a few years ago to move here.