My biggest mistake initially was thinking that business would find me or that my SOI would refer enough business to me to keep me afloat.

Cash-on-Cash Return Cash-on-Cash, the popular real estate investing return, is explained including its meaning, shortcoming, and formulation...Debt Coverage Ratio (DCR) A ratio investors and lenders use to track and compare debt-related outcomes for rental property and measure financial risk...Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM) A quick and easy way to determine whether or not a property is priced in line with other similar-type properties...Internal Rate of Return (IRR) The time value computation that shows the ratio between future cash flows and initial cash investment as a percentage...Loan-to-Value (LTV) A computation related to mortgages that lenders use when financing investment property as a measurement of their financial risk...The Maximum Purchase Price Calculation A calculation investors can make to determine the maximum price they can pay for an income property to at least break-even and avoid a negative cash flow...How to Compute Net Present Value Net present value is explained along with its formulation and use in real estate investing...Profitability Index The time value computation that shows the 'proportion' of dollars returned to dollars invested rather than the amount...Rental Income Property Cash Flow A fundamental look at rental income property cash flow for those of you new to real estate investing...Sinking Fund Factor Know the amount you you must start setting aside on a regular basis now to cover a capital expenditure scheduled in the future...Tax MattersIncome Property Operating Expenses and the IRS Tax Code Learn what operating expenses should be included in a rental property analysis as well as what the tax code says about operating expense deductions...The Recapture Tax Real Estate Investors Face When They Sell The seldom expected recapture tax real estate investors expect to owe the Feds after they sell their rental income property....The Cash Flow After Tax Calculation How to calculate cash flow after tax step-by-step starting at the gross scheduled income...The Depreciation Allowance According to the IRS Tax Code How the IRS figures the depreciation allowance for investment real estate along with its concept, limitations, and formulation...Understanding Rental Property Depreciation and Recapture Tax Rental property depreciation allowance and the recapture tax associated with it are explained...AnalysisCap Rate or GRM?

When doing initial analysis of a property to see if it's a good deal is there a rule of thumb for insurance costs?

The initial listing was for Owner occupant and I didn't have a chance.

I agree with @Elliot Smith and 5% is a good initial response average.

Pretty painless to do, but does cost initially to set up.

We are both agreeing to put 40k cash (80k total) towards the initial property allowing to cash flow the property from the get go in-order to snowball the rest into the next property. 

We had seen something suspicious on our initial walk-around.In-ground septic failed a hydro/pressure test.

Their units were generally in distressed condition and they had to put some investment in so as to rent them, and they had to keep them a long time to recover their initial investment. 

You'd then have a good chunk of money left over for any repairs and some initial reserves.